Pubdate: Wed, 01 Oct 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Sadie Gurman, Associated Press
Page: A12
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

COURT CONSIDERS WORKER MARIJUANA USE PROTECTIONS

DENVER (AP) - Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be 
fired for using it.

Now, the state's highest court is considering whether workers' 
off-duty medical marijuana use is protected under an obscure state law.

Colorado's Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case 
involving Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical marijuana patient who 
was fired by the Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010, even 
though the company did not allege that he was impaired on the job.

Coats says his pot smoking is allowed under a little-known state law 
intended to protect employees from being fired for legal activities 
off the clock. But the company argues that because pot remains 
illegal at the federal level, medical marijuana isn't covered by the state law.

The case is being watched closely around the country and could have 
big implications for pot smokers in the first state to legalize 
recreational sales of the drug. Though the Coats case involves 
medical marijuana, the court's decision could also affect how 
companies treat employees who use the drug recreationally.

The six justices fired a barrage of questions at attorneys from both 
sides, but they offered no glimpses into their opinions on the 
matter. It could be weeks or months before they issue their ruling.

Tuesday's arguments highlighted the clash between state laws that are 
increasingly accepting of marijuana use and employers' drug-free 
policies that won't tolerate it.

"This case need not be an endorsement or an indictment of medical 
marijuana" but a chance to set standards for employee conduct, Dish 
attorney Meghan Martinez told the justices. "It's a zero-tolerance 
policy. It doesn't matter if he was impaired or not."

Coats, 35, was paralyzed in a car crash as a teenager and has been a 
medical marijuana patient since 2009, when he discovered that pot 
helped calm violent muscle spasms that were making it difficult to 
work. Coats worked for three years as a telephone operator with Dish 
before he failed a random drug test in 2010 and was fired. He said he 
told his supervisors in advance that he probably would fail the test.

Coats said he never got high at work. But pot's intoxicating 
chemical, THC, can stay in the system for weeks.

Coats says he has been unable to find steady work because of his marijuana use.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom