A medical marijuana employment rights bill that would protect California patients from being fired because their medication is marijuana passed the California Assembly Wednesday. Introduced by leading legislative medical marijuana defender Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), and cosponsored by Assemblymembers Patty Berg (D-Eureka), Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego), the bill, AB 2279, would overturn a January California Supreme Court decision, Ross v. Raging Wire.
In that case, the state Supreme Court upheld the ability of employers to fire employees who test positive for marijuana even if they are patients. That decision left the state's estimated 150,000 registered medical marijuana patients facing renewed job insecurity.
AB 2279 would undo that ruling. It would "declare it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment or otherwise penalize a person, if the discrimination is based upon the person's status as a qualified patient or primary caregiver, or a positive drug test for marijuana, except as specified."
The bill also provides authorization for those who have been discriminated against by employers because of their medical marijuana use to sue for damages, seek injunctions and other appropriate relief. It would not prevent an employer from firing an employee who is impaired on the job because of medical marijuana use.
"AB 2279 is not about being under the influence while at work. That's against the law, and will remain so," said Leno, the bill's author. "It's about allowing patients who are able to work safely and who use their doctor-recommended medication in the privacy of their own homes, to not be arbitrarily fired from their jobs. The voters who supported Proposition 215 did not intend for medical marijuana patients to be forced into unemployment in order to benefit from their medicine," Leno continued.
"The California Assembly has acted to protect the right of patients to work and be productive members of society," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access, the medical marijuana advocacy group that argued the case before the Court and is now a supporter of the bill. "The state Senate now has the important task of passing this bill with the aim to protect the jobs of thousands of Californians with serious illnesses such as
cancer and HIV/AIDS."
"It's important that we not allow employment discrimination in California," said Gary Ross, the former plaintiff in Ross v. Raging Wire. "If the Court is going to ignore the need for protection, then it's up to the legislature to ensure that productive workers like me are free from discrimination."
The bill has broad support from labor, business, civil rights, and medical groups. It now heads to the state Senate.
(more)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Editorial: Dying over drug politics
Past time to resolve conflict
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The conflict over state and federal medical marijuana laws must be resolved.
California and 12 other states now allow the use of medical marijuana, yet the federal government does not.
That means sick people with authorization from their doctors to use marijuana are still in legal jeopardy, that California employers can fire workers who use marijuana recommended by a physician, and that people in need of an organ transplant can be barred from organ-transplant waiting lists.
Too bad there is not a common-sense transplant.
The Star wrote last month about a Seattle man, Timothy Garon, denied a spot on an organ-transplant list because he had used medical marijuana, authorized by his physician, for symptoms related to Hepatitis C.
The University of Washington Medical Center, which has strict rules about organ recipients' drug use, denied Mr. Garon a shot at a new liver, in part, because marijuana is illegal under federal law.
He died May 1.
Now, the University of Washington Medical Center is using the same sorry reason to deny a spot on its organ-transplant list to Jonathon Simchen, 33, of Seattle, according to a May 19 article in The Los Angeles Times.
The Times reported Mr. Simchen, a diabetic with failing kidneys and pancreas, was also denied a spot in Seattle's Virginia Mason Hospital transplant program because of his use of medical marijuana.
Mr. Simchen cannot afford to wait for Congress to get around to resolving the state-federal law conflict. It has already been three years since the U.S. Supreme Court recommended that Congress act.
However, medical centers do not have to base life-and-death decisions on the federal government's inane, outdated 1970s drug-war policies.
There is no reason why, in 2008, marijuana is listed as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it is deemed to have no medical use, when drugs such as cocaine and morphine are listed as Schedule 2 drugs, available by prescription.
Medical-marijuana use, authorized by a physician, should never be a reason for denying anyone a shot at receiving a life-saving organ transplant. Indeed, people in need of organ transplants are some of the most-likely people to benefit from medical marijuana.
We understand there might be political risks to a member of Congress who takes this on. What we don't understand is why any physician would put politics before patients.
more
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The conflict over state and federal medical marijuana laws must be resolved.
California and 12 other states now allow the use of medical marijuana, yet the federal government does not.
That means sick people with authorization from their doctors to use marijuana are still in legal jeopardy, that California employers can fire workers who use marijuana recommended by a physician, and that people in need of an organ transplant can be barred from organ-transplant waiting lists.
Too bad there is not a common-sense transplant.
The Star wrote last month about a Seattle man, Timothy Garon, denied a spot on an organ-transplant list because he had used medical marijuana, authorized by his physician, for symptoms related to Hepatitis C.
The University of Washington Medical Center, which has strict rules about organ recipients' drug use, denied Mr. Garon a shot at a new liver, in part, because marijuana is illegal under federal law.
He died May 1.
Now, the University of Washington Medical Center is using the same sorry reason to deny a spot on its organ-transplant list to Jonathon Simchen, 33, of Seattle, according to a May 19 article in The Los Angeles Times.
The Times reported Mr. Simchen, a diabetic with failing kidneys and pancreas, was also denied a spot in Seattle's Virginia Mason Hospital transplant program because of his use of medical marijuana.
Mr. Simchen cannot afford to wait for Congress to get around to resolving the state-federal law conflict. It has already been three years since the U.S. Supreme Court recommended that Congress act.
However, medical centers do not have to base life-and-death decisions on the federal government's inane, outdated 1970s drug-war policies.
There is no reason why, in 2008, marijuana is listed as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it is deemed to have no medical use, when drugs such as cocaine and morphine are listed as Schedule 2 drugs, available by prescription.
Medical-marijuana use, authorized by a physician, should never be a reason for denying anyone a shot at receiving a life-saving organ transplant. Indeed, people in need of organ transplants are some of the most-likely people to benefit from medical marijuana.
We understand there might be political risks to a member of Congress who takes this on. What we don't understand is why any physician would put politics before patients.
more
Los Angeles Times: marijuana and organ transplants don't mix
Patients who have used doctor-prescribed pot are being turned away from
hospital transplant programs.
By Stuart Glascock
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 19, 2008
SEATTLE — Should using doctor-prescribed marijuana be a deal-breaker for
someone needing an organ transplant? It is not a theoretical question but a
pressing and emotional one confronting hospitals and patients in states
where medical use of marijuana is legal.
This month, Timothy Garon, 56, a Seattle musician, died after being turned
down for a liver transplant. He was rejected partly because he had used
medical marijuana.
Now, a second critically ill patient in Washington state says he has been
denied a spot in two organ transplant programs because he uses
doctor-prescribed marijuana.
Jonathon Simchen, 33, of Fife, a town south of Seattle, is a diabetic whose
kidneys and pancreas have failed.
He said he was removed from the transplant program at Virginia Mason
Hospital in Seattle because he admitted using medical marijuana. Later, he
said, University of Washington Medical Center transplant officials refused
to accept him because of the medical marijuana issue.
"I'm just so discouraged," said the community college student, who wants to
be a teacher. "I've lost all remnants of hope. I look at my life right now
as if it is a prison term. I just have to serve each day."
The lawyer who represented Garon has taken on Simchen's case.
Douglas Hiatt argues that his clients are the victims of a loosely defined
transplant policy, one not based on science.
"They are really killing people over this," he said. (more)
hospital transplant programs.
By Stuart Glascock
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 19, 2008
SEATTLE — Should using doctor-prescribed marijuana be a deal-breaker for
someone needing an organ transplant? It is not a theoretical question but a
pressing and emotional one confronting hospitals and patients in states
where medical use of marijuana is legal.
This month, Timothy Garon, 56, a Seattle musician, died after being turned
down for a liver transplant. He was rejected partly because he had used
medical marijuana.
Now, a second critically ill patient in Washington state says he has been
denied a spot in two organ transplant programs because he uses
doctor-prescribed marijuana.
Jonathon Simchen, 33, of Fife, a town south of Seattle, is a diabetic whose
kidneys and pancreas have failed.
He said he was removed from the transplant program at Virginia Mason
Hospital in Seattle because he admitted using medical marijuana. Later, he
said, University of Washington Medical Center transplant officials refused
to accept him because of the medical marijuana issue.
"I'm just so discouraged," said the community college student, who wants to
be a teacher. "I've lost all remnants of hope. I look at my life right now
as if it is a prison term. I just have to serve each day."
The lawyer who represented Garon has taken on Simchen's case.
Douglas Hiatt argues that his clients are the victims of a loosely defined
transplant policy, one not based on science.
"They are really killing people over this," he said. (more)
Monday, May 5, 2008
Death of Medical Marijuana Patient Denied Organ Transplant Shines a Light on the Federal Government's Absurd Marijuana Policy
ACLU
Timothy Garon, a 56-year old Seattle-based musician, died last night from liver failure due to hepatitis C. Like so many critically ill people in the United States, he needed an organ transplant to survive. Unfortunately, the University of Washington Medical Center decided to deny Garon a new liver. Because donated organs are in such scarce supply, patients often remain on long transplant waiting lists or are denied an organ altogether if they fail to meet certain criteria established by transplant committees. Some common reasons for denial are that alcoholic patients continue to drink, those addicted to cigarettes continue to smoke, and those addicted to illegal drugs continue to use.
But Garon was not an alcoholic or drug addict. He did not get a new liver because he used a medicine recommended by his doctor to ease severe abdominal pain, nausea and lack of appetite. Were this medicine any other pill or prescription, Garon would have likely had his new liver and a chance to live out a full life. The problem is that Garon’s medicine was marijuana. The Associated Press reported Garon’s story on April 26:
Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant. His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.
But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.
If Garon was legally using medical marijuana, what’s the problem? Medical marijuana is legal under Washington’s state law, but remains illegal under federal law. There’s the rub. The federal government has refused to ease its criminal prohibition on the medical use of marijuana despite the fact that twelve states have made medical marijuana legal, the vast majority (upwards of 70 percent) of the American public thinks that medical marijuana should be made legally available to patients, and the American College of Physicians recently called on the federal government to acknowledge the medical uses of marijuana and remove it from its classification as a “Schedule I” drug, which subjects users to stiff criminal penalties.(more)
Timothy Garon, a 56-year old Seattle-based musician, died last night from liver failure due to hepatitis C. Like so many critically ill people in the United States, he needed an organ transplant to survive. Unfortunately, the University of Washington Medical Center decided to deny Garon a new liver. Because donated organs are in such scarce supply, patients often remain on long transplant waiting lists or are denied an organ altogether if they fail to meet certain criteria established by transplant committees. Some common reasons for denial are that alcoholic patients continue to drink, those addicted to cigarettes continue to smoke, and those addicted to illegal drugs continue to use.
But Garon was not an alcoholic or drug addict. He did not get a new liver because he used a medicine recommended by his doctor to ease severe abdominal pain, nausea and lack of appetite. Were this medicine any other pill or prescription, Garon would have likely had his new liver and a chance to live out a full life. The problem is that Garon’s medicine was marijuana. The Associated Press reported Garon’s story on April 26:
Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant. His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.
But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.
If Garon was legally using medical marijuana, what’s the problem? Medical marijuana is legal under Washington’s state law, but remains illegal under federal law. There’s the rub. The federal government has refused to ease its criminal prohibition on the medical use of marijuana despite the fact that twelve states have made medical marijuana legal, the vast majority (upwards of 70 percent) of the American public thinks that medical marijuana should be made legally available to patients, and the American College of Physicians recently called on the federal government to acknowledge the medical uses of marijuana and remove it from its classification as a “Schedule I” drug, which subjects users to stiff criminal penalties.(more)
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