By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
(Source: The Miami Times)
Legislation has again been filed to protect public employees who are qualified medical marijuana patients in Florida.
Broward County Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky’s proposal (SB 136) would prohibit a public employer from taking adverse personnel action against an employee or a job applicant for their use of medical marijuana if the employee is a qualified patient.
There are exceptions if the public employer can establish that the use of cannabis is impairing the worker’s ability to perform his or her job duties or responsibilities.
The proposal also says that if the public employer does have a drug testing policy and an employee or job applicant tests positive for THC, the employer must provide the employee or applicant written notice within five days about their right to provide an explanation for or contest the positive test.
Sen. Polsky has filed similar legislation that hasn’t moved in the GOP-controlled Legislature in recent years. Some of her earlier versions encompassed all medical marijuana patients around the state, not just those who are public employees.
Medical cannabis is legal in 38 states. About half of those states have anti-discrimination policies for medical cannabis patients, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The NCSL reports that “significantly fewer states require employers to carve out accommodations for these patients.”
There are 895,469 qualified medical marijuana patients in Florida, according to the Office of Medical Marijuana Use. That’s the most in the nation.
Polsky has also filed a bill (SB 130) to prohibit courts from denying or restricting certain parental rights based solely on a parent’s status as a qualified medical marijuana patient. It would also prohibit the presumption of neglect or child endangerment based solely on a parent’s status as a qualified medical marijuana patient.
