Wal-Mart fires legal medical marijuana patient in Michigan

To be fair, Wal-Mart is just one of many employers that terminate medical marijuana patients for their failed urine screens

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WZZM) – Now that medical marijuana is legal in Michigan, can an employer fire a worker who tests positive for the drug?

WalMart says it can, so it did. “I was terminated because I failed a drug screening,” says former WalMart employee Joseph Casias.

In 2008, Casias was the Associate Of The Year at the WalMart store in Battle Creek, despite suffering from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.

At his doctor’s recommendation, Casias says he legally uses medical marijuana to ease his pain.

“It helps tremendously,” he says. “I only use it to stop the pain. To make me feel more comfortable and active as a person.”

During his five years at WalMart, Casias says he went to work every day, determined to be the best.

“I gave them everything,” he says. “110 percent every day. Anything they asked me to do I did. More than they asked me to do. 12 to 14 hours a day.”

But last November, Casias sprained his knee at work. Marijuana was detected in his system during the routine drug screening that follows all workplace injuries. Casias showed WalMart managers his state medical marijuana card, but he was fired anyway.

“I was told they do not accept or honor my medical marijuana card,” says Casias.

In an e-mail from headquarters, WalMart spokesman Greg Rossiter explained the company policy. It states: “In states, such as Michigan, where prescriptions for marijuana can be obtained, an employer can still enforce a policy that requires termination of employment following a positive drug screen. We believe our policy complies with the law and we support decisions based on the policy.”

Casias says he never used marijuana before work.

“No, I never came to work under the influence, never,” he says. “I don’t think it’s fair. Because I have a medical condition I can’t work and provide for my family?”

Casias has been collecting unemployment compensation since he was fired in November but this week he says he was notified WalMart is challenging his eligibility for benefits.

“It’s not fair,” he says.

Sorry to have to defend Wal-Mart, but they are no different in this regard than hundreds or even thousands of employers in the fourteen medical marijuana states.  Your recommendation for medical marijuana is just words – it’s not a prescription – so you aren’t protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act for your medical marijuana use.  You are not protected against discrimination for your medical marijuana use.  An employer may refuse to hire you and an employer may terminate you if you fail a workplace urine screening for marijuana metabolites.

So choose – your job or your health?

Many patients in medical marijuana states ask their doctor for a prescription for Marinol, the legal Schedule III 100%-potent THC pill, in order to have a defense for turning up positive for THC metabolites.  Since that is a prescription drug, it is covered in many cases by insurance and provides a legal “out” for companies with drug testing policies.

However, while the most commonly-used marijuana screening techniques cannot distinguish the THC metabolite from whole plant cannabis use and Marinol use, there are now new screening techniques than can distinguish other metabolites from plant cannabis that would not be present in Marinol-only use.  It costs a whole lot more money, but if employers are determined to ensure you’re not using actual plant marijuana, they can figure that out.

What makes this even more infuriating is that nearly every state makes exceptions for prescription drugs in the workplace, even ones that can cause severe impairment.  The federal laws on commercial driver’s licenses, for example, state the following:

(b) (12)(i) Does not use a controlled substance identified in 21 CFR 1308.11 Schedule I, an amphetamine, a narcotic, or any other habit-forming drug.

(b)(12)(ii) Exception. A driver may use such a substance or drug, if the substance or drug is prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner who:

(b)(12)(ii)(A) Is familiar with the driver’s medical history and assigned duties; and

(b)(12)(ii)(B) Has advised the driver that the prescribed substance or drug will not adversely affect the driver’s ability to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle; and

(b) (13) Has no current clinical diagnosis of alcoholism.

So long as your doctor knows you’re a trucker and doesn’t think you’re a drunk, you can use your Schedule II doctor-prescribed Cocaine, Dexedrine (speed), Dilaudid, Demerol, Desoxyn (meth), Oxycodone, Ritalin, and Seconal.  You can drive an eighteen-wheeler on our roads using your Schedule III doctor-prescribed Codeine, Ketamine (Special K), Secobarbital, Anabolic Steroids, and, ironically, the synthetic THC in Marinol.  So long as your doctor doesn’t think it will affect your duties, you’re free to use your Schedule IV Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, and Ambien, because all of these drugs have medical uses and are safe to use under a doctor’s recommendation.

But not medical cannabis.  It’s Schedule I.  No medical value (no matter what the AMA says).  High potential for abuse (worse than cocaine, meth, and oxycontin).  No safe use under a doctor’s supervision (no matter what fourteen states say).

Feel free to contact Wal-Mart if you’d like to express your opinion:

Officers:

• Michael T. Duke – President & Chief Executive Officer
• Thomas M. Schoewe, MBA – Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President
• Rollin L. Ford – Chief Information Officer & EVP
• Thomas A. Mars – Chief Administrative Officer & EVP-US
• Eduardo Castro-Wright – Vice Chairman-US Wal Mart Stores

Address:

702 Southwest 8th Street
Bentonville, Arkansas 72716

Telephone:  +1 479 273-4000
Fax: +1 479 273-1917