Maryland senators on Thursday took up a bill to protect firefighters and rescue workers from being penalized for off-duty use of medical marijuana.
Members of the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the proposal from Sen. Carl Jackson (D) about a year after the full chamber advanced an earlier version that ultimately stalled out in the House.
Under SB 439, state law would be amended to codify that firefighters and other rescue workers who are registered medical cannabis patients could not be penalized over their participation in the state-legal program or for testing positive for marijuana.
Employers could not “discipline, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against the fire and rescue public safety employee with respect to the employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” based solely on a positive screening for THC metabolites.
They also could not “limit, segregate, or classify its employees in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive the fire and rescue public safety employee of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the fire and rescue public safety employee’s status as an employee,” the bill text says.
However, employers could continue to set zero-tolerance policies for on-duty impairment from cannabis.
“Our brave fire and
Read full article on Marijuana Moment
