MEDICAL-MARIJUANA RULING MAKES NO SENSE

On Jan. 24, the California Supreme Court upheld the firing of a
medical marijuana patient from his job because he tested positive for
marijuana in a company drug test.

For patients who do not have to undergo the onerous and humiliating
ritual of providing a urine specimen in a cup or you will be fired or
not hired, this ruling has no direct impact.

But for the many people whose livelihoods depend on being able to
pass a drug screen, this is a serious blow to their health and welfare.

Like law enforcement's successful attempt to terrorize local elected
officials by threatening to arrest them if they pass laws allowing
medicinal marijuana in their communities, law enforcement has now
succeeded in getting business owners to carry out their
prohibitionist agenda by threatening them with loss of federal
contracts, police raids and lawsuits if they allow their employees to
use marijuana medicinally. At least that is what lawyers representing
business owners in the case claimed in their legal briefs arguing
that they had no choice but to fire a legal medical marijuana patient
for testing positive for marijuana.

In a 5-2 decision, the California Supreme Court unfortunately bought
into this absurd argument. I imagine their legal reasoning has some
basis in jurisprudence, but that doesn't mean it's rational.

The total preposterousness of the decision is showcased by the fact
that employees cannot be fired for having synthetic THC in their
Advertisement systems. Employees can take Marinol and the other
synthetic THC products and go to work and be under the influence of
THC, and that's legal.

But if they take natural THC, then the California Supreme Court rules
it is OK to fire them.

Now what is the difference pharmacologically between synthetic THC
and natural THC?

Zip, nada, nothing - there is no difference. They are biologically
equivalent and are, for all intents and purposes, the exact same
thing with the exact same effects on the human body. They cannot even
be differentiated in standard blood and urine drug screens.

There is one significant difference, however, between synthetic THC
and natural THC, but it has nothing to do with the human body.

Pharmaceutical companies can patent synthetic THC and make billions
selling it, such as Marinol, for $13 a pill. They can't patent
natural THC because it comes naturally from a plant. They will not
make a dime on it let alone the billions that is par for the course
for most of their products.

The winner in this abysmal court ruling certainly wasn't the health
and welfare of Californians. The first winner is law enforcement who
view medical marijuana as a chink in their $20 billion a year wall of
marijuana prohibition laws, which guarantee them a taxpayer-funded
full-employment program.

No doubt they were out at the bars celebrating the court's decision.

Joining law enforcement at the bars are the giant pharmaceutical
companies who let out a collective sigh of relief that once again
they had fought back the threat marijuana poses to their bottom line.

There is one ray of hope as the California Supreme Court decision can
be abrogated by the state Legislature by passing legislation that
would overcome the court's objections.

Even though state Assemblyman Mark Leno has announced that he would
very quickly introduce legislation to do that, I would advise against
holding one's breath on it ever passing. Even if it did, it would
surely be vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As disheartening as this ruling is, patients understand the
importance of continuing the struggle. At medical marijuana
patient-support group meetings, I always ask how many people know
that marijuana has improved their lives and made them healthier.
Almost all hands shoot up.

Of course I expect that to happen, but the enthusiasm with which
everyone thrusts their hands into the air and the expressions of
conviction on their faces vividly demonstrates just how critical the
struggle to bring marijuana back to our nation's medicine cabinet is
to the overall health of our communities.