Marijuana Policy Project

Colorado's medical marijuana law has once again created a cloudy dilemma in Gunnison.
Jared Oliver, 21, claims that he lost his job and that he and his brother were nearly evicted from their rental home due to his possession of marijuana, which he uses to calm seizures.
"I was wronged here," Oliver said. "There was nothing illegal going on."
He says a physician's recommendation gave him the legal right to grow marijuana and that Motel Man Management and Receivers -- the company that manages the Affordable Inns in Gunnison, where Oliver was employed, and also manages the on-site housing where he lives -- has discriminated against him for his choice to use the controversial plant.
In 2000, Colorado voters approved an initiative to make it legal for people who have debilitating medical conditions to grow, possess and use marijuana. This still remains a federal offense, however.
John Hazen, of Motel Man Management, said firing Oliver had nothing to do with the cannabis discovered in his apartment.
"(Oliver) was fired because he didn't show up to work," Hazen said. "He can try to claim what he wants to, but he wasn't a good employee." 
As for the near-eviction, both parties agreed that was directly related to the plant. 
"Per your lease, you agreed to not allow any illegal activities to be conducted at the premises," the eviction notice, dated March 11, states. "Please vacate the premises within 48 hours pursuant to lease agreement."
The letter was addressed to Jared Oliver's brother, Justin, the named lessee on the contract. Jared and Justin are roommates.
Donna Conway, director of operations at the local lodging establishment, said the notice of eviction was also based on Oliver admitting to using and growing marijuana on the premises prior to any application for a medical marijuana card. Oliver denies he ever smoked at the apartment illegally.
The brothers are still living at the apartment and Motel Man Management hasn't followed through with its request to have them leave.
"They had another month and half on the lease, so we decided just let them serve it out and get out," Hazen said.
Oliver worries, however, that the situation will affect his chances of securing a new job and housing.
"We can't use them as a reference anymore, because they are going to say they kicked us out for doing illegal drugs," he predicted. "And ... they are going to say that I was a horrible employee."
Oliver has worked for the company for about one-and-a-half years, and said he has received numerous accolades for being a good employee and team player.
"I wasn't using it at work," he said of the prescription pot. "It wasn't affecting my job performance. I only did it in the privacy of my home."
Everything went downhill, however, after the marijuana was discovered on March 5, he said.
On March 17, shortly after the eviction notice, Oliver received his first written disciplinary warning. It was for several violations, including giving a refund without management permission, leaving the front desk unattended and doors unlocked numerous times, and not completing a front desk checklist of chores.
This was followed with another notice on March 22, stating that his job had been terminated for not showing up on time for his 7 a.m. shift.
"It appears to employer that you are deliberately wanting to get fired," the notice states.
Oliver said it was an honest mistake -- that it was only the second or third day of his early morning shift and that he didn't set his alarm correctly.
"Others have been late and not fired," he said. "It just boggled my mind."
 
More pills, or pot?
Oliver, who said he was diagnosed with epilepsy about seven years ago, has suffered from small seizures, known as myoclonic jerks, during that time frame.
"If I have something in my hand I will drop it, or sometimes I will fall over," he explained. Wanting an alternative to continuing to increase his intake of the synthetic prescription drug, Lamictal (which leads to insomnia for him) he sought a medical marijuana recommendation.
That recommendation was supplied on Feb. 23 by Dr. Paul Bregman, MD, of Denver. It states that Oliver may benefit from the medical use of marijuana to treat seizures, "including those characteristic of epilepsy."
Now, when Oliver feels the seizures coming on, he turns to cannabis -- in combination with the Lamictal -- to stave them off, he explained.
 
Law still hazy
In 2005, Gunnison County made state-wide news for a medical marijuana court case that showed even a physician's verbal recommendation for marijuana is enough for a patient to legally possess it.
Gunnison County Sheriff's officers had responded to a fire at a local's Dos Rios condo. When they discovered marijuana, they arrested the resident on a variety of drug offenses. After eight months of legal proceedings, a jury acquitted the defendant because a local doctor testified that he gave a verbal OK for the patient to use marijuana for chronic back pain.
Now, misunderstandings hover around the law again, partially because Oliver did not have a medical marijuana registration card from the state at the time Motel Man Management discovered his supply.
Hazen said it was his understanding, based on a conversation with law enforcement, that Oliver's possession of marijuana plants was illegal at that time because Oliver did not have the state card.
"If you have your (card) pending, you've got the cart before the horse," Hazen opined. "To me it's kind of like (saying) 'I'm going to apply for my (driver's) license next week -- I've passed my written test -- and now I'm driving the car.'"
However, according to Ron Hyman, state registrar of vital statistics, a mailed-in medical marijuana application has the "same legal effect as a registration card," until it has been approved or denied.
Oliver was finally issued the state card on March 30, after the firing and near-eviction. He was not able to supply proof to the Gunnison Country Times of when he mailed the application to the state.
However, the timing may not matter -- as the 2005 Gunnison court decision proved.
"Ultimately, if you just have that recommendation, you're legal," said Brian Vicente, an attorney who specializes in medical marijuana law and directs the medical marijuana advocacy group, Sensible Colorado.
As for the job termination, Vicente acknowledges that employers do not have to accommodate the use of medical marijuana in the workplace.
"That's specifically written into the law, and people can be fired for being medical marijuana patients� --� even if they are not using on the job," he said.
It is "possibly a violation of federal law in terms of ADA, the American with Disabilities Act," he noted. "But we haven't really seen that play out in court in Colorado."
Kathy Hertzog, president of an on-line organization that provides resources to landlords, said she has concerns the management's actions in this case "crossed several lines" -- especially if the landlord had actually gone through with the eviction.
"I would think that, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and the Rehabilitation Act, the tenant could request a 'reasonable accommodation' to an existing drug policy and be granted the right to remain in his apartment," she said. "I would see no reason they would not release that lease."
 
Whose business is it?
The situation has also brought up a question about the right to privacy.
Hazen said a heads up from Oliver about the medical marijuana would have been appreciated.
"If a person changes their status during the time that they are staying (in rental housing) and gets the permit, I think somehow they owe it to the landlord to tell them that they have it -- prior to starting to grow marijuana on the landlord's property," he said.
Oliver disagreed, saying that was not something his landlord needed to know. Vicente agreed with Oliver.
"Really people are under no obligation to even tell landlords -- the same way I don't need to tell my landlord about my insulin or anything like that," Vicente said.