CALIF. COURT: MEDICAL POT USERS SUBJECT TO FIRING

San Francisco -- Employers can fire workers found to have used medical
marijuana even if it was legally prescribed, the California Supreme
Court ruled Thursday.

The high court upheld a small Sacramento telecommunications company's
firing of a man who flunked a company-ordered drug test. Gary Ross
held a medical marijuana card authorizing him to use the drug to treat
a back injury sustained while serving in the Air Force.

The company, Ragingwire Inc., argued that it rightfully fired Ross
because all marijuana use is illegal under federal law, which does not
recognize the medical marijuana laws in California and 11 other states.

The U.S. Supreme Court declared in 2005 that state medicinal marijuana
laws don't protect users from prosecution. The Drug Enforcement
Administration and other federal agencies have been actively shutting
down major medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California over
the last two years and charging their operators with felony
distribution charges.

Ragingwire said it fired Ross because it feared it could be the target
of a federal raid, among other reasons.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Western
Electrical Contractors Association Inc. joined Ragingwire's case,
arguing that companies could lose federal contracts and grants if they
allowed employees to smoke pot.

The conservative nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation said in a
friend-of-the-court filing that employers could also be liable for
damage done by workers while they were high.

The American Medical Association advocates keeping marijuana
classified as a tightly controlled and dangerous drug that should not
be legalized until more research is done.