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UNCERTAINTY ENCIRCLES MEDICAL MARIJUANA, BUT IT'S MANAGEABLE

The legalization of medical marijuana has long looked like a sure thing in Florida, with polls showing overwhelming majorities in favor.  But with less than two months until the state votes on a constitutional amendment to legalize it, a new statewide poll shows more uncertainty - 1 in 6 voters haven't yet considered it - than had previously been thought.

This should be no surprise.  In the strange world of medical marijuana, uncertainty is one of the few constants.  With the narcotic still illegal under federal law, any legalization or partial legalization at the state level is itself a foray into uncertainty.  Legal in the eyes of some government agencies but illegal to others, medical marijuana occupies a bizarre space in the 23 states where it is now permitted.  This leads to all sorts of legal and practical conflicts, ones that Floridians will have to deal with if the amendment does receive the necessary 60 percent of votes cast in November.

Perhaps the greatest one is that, even if using marijuana for medical purposes becomes legal under state law, many Floridians will find themselves prohibited by their own employers from doing so.  As The Post's Jeff Ostrowski outlined in a report last month, many businesses have policies that prohibit employees from using marijuana even in states where the drug has been legalized.

This has been a source of conflict across the country.  Last year, a Wal-Mart worker in Michigan suffering from a brain tumor was fired after a drug test showed he used marijuana to treat symptoms.  A nurse in New Mexico and a phone operator in Colorado were fired under similar circumstances.  Even in states where marijuana is legal, courts have largely upheld employers' ability to prohibit workers from consuming the drug.

In the case of the Wal-Mart employee in Michigan, who used medical marijuana to treat pain from the tumor and sinus cancer, the company said it was "sympathetic" to his condition but had to "consider the overall safety of our customers and associates," NBC News reported.  Employing workers who regularly use drugs can be seen as a legal liability in cases where workers injure themselves or others on the job.

This would surely be the case in Florida as well.  Residents who look forward to treating chronic pain with marijuana instead of prescription painkillers could risk termination to do so - even though marijuana is less addictive and far less dangerous than, say, oxycodone.

There are some ways to address this.  The simplest would be for medical marijuana to be legalized at the federal level, although simple legalization may not by itself clear up liability issues that tie many businesses' hands.  Florida also could strengthen its worker-protection laws to bar businesses from discrimination against people who use narcotics legally to treat pain from chronic or terminal illnesses.

But the most likely scenario is that corporate America's view on marijuana use will simply evolve in the same way that the views of broader society have.  As marijuana becomes legalized or decriminalized state by state, pressure will grow for businesses to adjust their policies.

Worker rules are hardly the only area of uncertainty.  Growers will likely have trouble depositing their money in banks.  Regulators will have to determine rules for labeling, production and who is eligible to consume.  But these are not reasons for opposition to this smart and humane reform.  With models increasingly emerging from other states, solutions will come.