ACLU DEFENDS LAWSUIT BY MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENT FIRED FROM WAL-MART JOB

GRAND RAPIDS - An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union
told a federal judge today that the lawsuit against Wal-Mart for
wrongfully firing an employee for lawfully using medical marijuana in
accordance with state law to treat the painful symptoms of an
inoperable brain tumor and cancer should proceed.

The ACLU and the ACLU of Michigan, in partnership with the law firm
Daniel W. Grow PLLC, filed a lawsuit in June charging that Joseph
Casias, 30, the Battle Creek, MI Wal-Mart's employee of the year in
2008, was wrongfully fired last year for testing positive for
marijuana despite being legally registered to use the drug under
Michigan's medical marijuana law. In accordance with the law, Casias
never ingested marijuana while at work and never worked while under
the influence of marijuana.

"No patient should be forced to choose between adequate pain relief
and gainful employment, and no employer should be allowed to intrude
upon private medical choices made by employees in consultation with
their doctors," said Scott Michelman, staff attorney with the ACLU
Criminal Law Reform Project. "Wal-Mart forced Joseph to pay a stiff
and unfair price for using a medicine that is allowed under state law
and that has had a life-changing positive effect for him."

In today's arguments before U.S. District Court Judge Robert J.
Jonker, attorneys for Casias urged the court to deny a motion filed
by Wal-Mart seeking dismissal of the case and to reject Wal-Mart's
attempts to have the case, initially filed in state court in Battle
Creek, tried in federal court, instead.

Casias has suffered for more than a decade from sinus cancer and a
brain tumor in the back of his head that was the size of a softball
when it was first diagnosed. His condition has forced him to endure
extensive treatment and chemotherapy, interferes with his ability to
speak and is a source of severe and consistent pain. Nonetheless, he
had been successfully employed for more than five years by Wal-Mart
in Battle Creek, where he began as an entry-level grocery stocker in
2004 and worked his way up to inventory control manager.

After Michigan voters enacted the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act in
2008, Casias' oncologist recommended he try marijuana as permitted by
state law since the drugs Casias had previously been prescribed
provided only minimal relief and caused severe nausea. Casias
obtained the appropriate registry card from the Michigan Department
of Community Health and experienced immediate and profound results:
his pain decreased dramatically, the new medicine did not induce
nausea and he was able to gain back some of the weight he lost during
treatment.

"No corporation should be able to flout state law," said Daniel W.
Grow, a St. Joseph, MI.-based attorney and co-counsel in the case.
"Michigan voters decided medical marijuana use should be permitted
because they recognized its ability to alleviate the pain, nausea and
other symptoms associated with debilitating medical conditions."

Michigan's medical marijuana law protects patients registered with
the state from being "denied any right or privilege" including being
subjected to "disciplinary action by a business" for the use of
medical marijuana as recommended by a doctor in accordance with state
law. The law does not require employers to accommodate the ingestion
of marijuana in the workplace and does not protect employees who work
under the influence of the drug.

"This case is being closely watched by patients in the 13 other
states and District of Columbia that also provide protections for
patients who use marijuana as recommended by a doctor," said Kary L.
Moss, Executive Director for the ACLU of Michigan. "Many patients
around the country rely on this medicine for pain relief, and on
their state laws for protection against unscrupulous employers."

A copy of the ACLU's lawsuit is available online at:
www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform/casias-v-wal-mart-complaint