Ryan Nicol
With the 2020 Session right around the corner, a pair of Democratic lawmakers are pushing a measure to protect the employment of those who use medical marijuana.
The “Medical Marijuana Employee Protection Act,” along with a separate provision specifically covering public employees, would aim to ensure workers or job applicants are not punished for using the now-legal medicine.
State Sen. Lori Berman of Delray Beach and state Rep. Tina Polsky of Boca Raton are behind the measures (SB 962 and HB 595).
“When the Florida Legislature implemented the medical marijuana amendment, we left unaddressed workplace protections for patients. Employers are still able to enforce a zero-tolerance, drug-free workplace and are not required to make reasonable accommodations for employees who use medical marijuana, now a constitutionally-sanctioned right,” Berman said.
“We must do our part to ensure that their use of safe and effective medicine will not impede their right to work.”
Florida voters approved an amendment legalizing medical marijuana back in 2016. But employees required to undergo drug tests can still be canned for a positive test.
The measures for Berman and Polsky would require an employer to give written notice within five days of a positive drug test result in order to allow the employee to explain the result.
“Right now, there is no guidance for employers as they deal with this new medical marijuana system. This legislation would provide crucial guidelines for employers and protect employees from being discriminated against for their legal use of marijuana,” Polsky said.
“We must guarantee that medical marijuana users are not discriminated against for their legal and rightful use of this treatment. Regular working people deserve these important protections.”
Under the legislation, employees whose performance is affected by the drug can still be fired.
Berman’s bill has been referred to the Governmental Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary and Rules committees in the Senate. Polsky’s measure has been assigned to the House Oversight, Transparency and Public Management Subcommittee, as well as the Appropriations and State Affairs committees.
Last Session, lawmakers authorized the sale of a smokable form of medical marijuana, thereby expanding the options available to patients. Voters may also have a chance to legalize recreational marijuana via a 2020 ballot amendment.
One comment
Melanie
January 9, 2020 at 9:34 am
Showing a cigarette in the photo makes it seem like y’all don’t know the difference between weed and tobacco. Nice info to know, tho.
“When the Florida Legislature implemented the medical marijuana amendment, we left unaddressed workplace protections for patients.” Because they were too busy on keeping the most effective delivery methods away from us due to unfounded fear. Not allowing smokables (safe, quick acting, lasts 2-4 hours) makes it easy to bother anyone anytime without having to ask if they have a card for that. Not allowing edibles (longer but deeper acting, lasts 3-6 hours) because kids might get them shows cannabis ignorance since the reasons weed became illegal are baseless and there’s no actual harm in eating any amount; a person would sleep it off with no permanent changes.
Please look into how Nixon designed his illegal Controlled Substances Act because no tests were properly done before classification. It was all done to heavily criminalize groups he despised, and he even added barriers to research “the most dangerous drugs in the world,” which includes cannabis, to keep the system in place for as long as possible. He was told over and over that weed was safe, but he needed to mess with war protestors and this was the way, leading to a nation of raids.
Comments are closed.