LAS VEGAS (KSNV & MyNews3) — Medical marijuana is legal in Nevada but it turns out your career could take a hit if you use it.
This could soon change.
“This is the butter. I take that as a pill or you can use that in cooking,” said Vicki Higgins, a medical marijuana patient who uses cannabis butter and lotion to help relieve the constant pain she’s lived with for years.
“I use that on my arms or my sore spots in the morning,” she said.
Higgins said she has tried using prescription medicines and at one point said she was probably taking 15 pills a day. The side effects, however, were painful.
“There are so many professionals that are able to function though their days because of the fact of medical cannabis and the lack of its side effects,” Higgins said.
Even though medical marijuana is legal in Nevada, a business can still fire an employee for using it on-or-off duty.
“You can fire him on the spot but on April 2nd, a different story,” said Las Vegas attorney Derek Connor. Connor said under a new law, businesses must make reasonable accommodations for employees who have medical marijuana cards.
“It’s a very vague term,” he said. “Do they have to basically allow them to fail a drug test, do they have to allow them to use while they’re on lunch break?”
Nevada could set the standard for other states.
Even states that have a much more robust marijuana industry than we do, don’t provide the protection that Nevada’s new law will have.
Turns out Colorado’s new Rocky Mountain high comes with a catch — test positive with THC at work and you could hear the words, “you’re fired.”
“I’m not going to get bitter anytime soon. I need the marijuana and I don’t want to go the whole rest of my life without having a job,” said Brandon Coats who was fired for using medical marijuana.
Coats is a quadriplegic who was working as a telephone customer service representatives in Colorado. He was fired by Dish Network in 2010.
His reviews were good but he was fired when a company drug test showed THC in his system.
Coats’ case went to court. Lower courts ruled in favor of Dish and now the Supreme Court is reviewing his case.
The decision could have a major impact on people like Higgins.
“There are different methods of using cannabis and we’re not all just walking around a bunch of stoners…we’re using this to survive. This is my survival kit,” Higgins said.
The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision on coats’ case later this summer or early in the fall.
Marijuana in the workplace rules will soon change
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