Gov. Schwarzenegger terminates medical marijuana employment bill
Last update: October 2, 2008
On September 30, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) vetoed A.B. 2279. The legislation — authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) — would have prevented medical marijuana patients from being fired or denied employment for testing positive for marijuana, as long as they were not impaired on the job. Contrary to the rhetoric of its opponents, A.B. 2279 included provisions that exempted safety-sensitive positions and didn't put employers in a position of violating federal law.
At a time when the state faces a $15 billion budget deficit, it's outrageous that Gov. Schwarzenegger thinks sending thousands of state-legal medical marijuana patients into unemployment is a good plan for California.
California patients win major legal victory
California's compassionate medical marijuana laws recently received major vindication in the courts. In the case, County of San Diego v. San Diego NORML, et al., San Diego County — along with San Bernardino — sued the state in an attempt to overturn most of the provisions of the state's medical marijuana laws. Both counties refused to comply with state law by issuing ID cards to qualifying patients and caregivers and asserted that doing so would violate federal drug laws, which ban almost all marijuana use. Every single judge in three courts has ruled against the counties.
The California Attorney General's Office argued that for counties to issue ID cards to medical marijuana patients is not a violation of any federal law and that failure to do so would amount to a violation of state law. Patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Drug Policy Alliance all intervened in the case on behalf of patients.
After the trial court ruled against the counties and upheld the state's medical marijuana laws, the county appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeals. On July 31, 2008, the appeals court unanimously upheld the lower court's decision that federal law does not pre-empt the ID card program. It ruled that the counties did not have legal standing to challenge the other aspects of the state's medical marijuana laws. The two counties appealed to the state Supreme Court, which unanimously refused to hear the appeal on October 16.
Even before the latest defeat, San Diego County supervisors had decided to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal. It is not yet known if San Bernardino will join the petition for review. If you live in San Bernardino County or another county not issuing the state's medical marijuana ID cards, contact MPP's California organizer Aaron Smith at asmith@mpp.org to find out how you can help bring this important program to your area.
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