PROTECTING PATIENTS IN THE WORKPLACE

Greetings, UC Berkeley students. Are any of you graduating soon? Do
you use marijuana for medical reasons? Do you want to get a job when
you graduate? Tough luck.

Many are unaware that the California Supreme Court has ruled that
employers may fire anyone who fails a drug test, even legal medical
marijuana patients. Sadly, many find this out only after they've lost
their jobs. Only a legislative action will change the climate now.

SB129 (Leno) would grant needed employment rights to medical
marijuana users and will be voted on as soon as Jan. 19 in
Sacramento. Whether or not you use medical marijuana, you should
support this bill along with the 65 percent of California voters who
agree that medical marijuana users shouldn't lose their right to work.

California NORML regularly receives calls from frantic workers in
danger of job loss. Ironically, many tell us that it's marijuana that
enables them to be productive workers by managing their pain without
opiates, or allowing them to sleep, or staving off migraine
headaches. But unless they can stomach pharmaceutical medications for
their ailments, they're out of luck when it comes to the job market.

This situation persists despite the fact that urine testing programs
have been shown in study after study not to improve workplace safety.
Alternatives like impairment testing are starting to gain ground, as
trucking companies and others are looking for better and more
immediate ways to reduce their accident rate. One company even
markets their Alertometer as an iPhone app.

By discriminating against marijuana users, our workforce is missing
out on some of its most creative and productive participants, and the
whole country suffers from this. Canadian courts have found drug
testing unconstitutional, and it's widely known that Silicon Valley
doesn't drug test, because it would then lose some of its top recruits.

Indeed, what's become the nation's only growth industry (aside from
medical marijuana) was largely started by two known pot smokers, Bill
Gates and Steve Jobs. In addition, a new study published in the
American Journal of Epidemiology found that the mental function and
memory of nearly 9,000 British men at age 50 was the same or higher
among those who admitted to using marijuana or other illicit drugs
moderately at the age of 42.

Under SB129, employers would retain the right to take action against
employees who were impaired on the job. Those in safety-sensitive
positions and certain health-care workers could still be drug tested.
And contrary to what opponents like the California Chamber of
Commerce like to state, it won't interfere with federal drug-testing mandates.

"I'm a fierce champion of the reasonable," joked Sen. Mark Leno when
he announced the bill at a CalNORML conference last year. He added,
"I don't think the voters of California, when they passed Prop. 215,
intended it to only benefit unemployed people." If you agree, please
take action on this bill.

For more information, see www.canorml.org/drugtesting