USE MEDICAL MARIJUANA - LOSE YOUR JOB PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #361 - Sunday, 27 Jan 2008 In the latest blow to medical marijuana rights, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that employers can fire workers who test positive for the drug, even when it is used under a physician's advice. "Nothing in the text or history of the Compassionate Use Act suggests the voters intended the measure to address the respective rights and duties of employers and employees," wrote Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar in the 15-page opinion. "Under California law, an employer may require pre-employment drug tests and take illegal drug use into consideration in making employment decisions.... The Compassionate Use Act does not eliminate marijuana's potential for abuse or the employer's legitimate interest in whether an employee uses the drug." The decision is on line here: http://drugsense.org/url/NDVd3p20lJ "The majority's holding disrespects the will of California's voters," wrote Justice Joyce L. Kennard, whose dissent was joined by Justice Carlos R. Moreno, calling the decision "conspicuously lacking in compassion." The voters "surely never intended that persons who availed themselves" of the medical marijuana act "would thereby disqualify themselves from employment." Kennard wrote. Thus five of the seven justices - who will never face a drug test - showed their contempt for the people of California. Daily newspapers throughout California, as well as major national newspapers, covered the story. Please write letters to the editor to your local newspapers giving your views about the decision. A sample of the coverage may be found at this link: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/RagingWire Style guides for writing effective letters to the editor are available at MAP's Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Please Send Us a Copy of Your Letter Please send copies of your letters to the sent letter list ( ) if you are subscribed, or email a copy to if you are not subscribed. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ( ) will help you to review other sent letters and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see: http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Prepared by: The MAP Media Activism Team www.mapinc.org/resource =.

Focus Alert Archive