cannabisnews.com: Businesses Face ‘Gray Area’ in Pot Law





Businesses Face ‘Gray Area’ in Pot Law
Posted by CN Staff on November 16, 2005 at 13:48:34 PT
By Alex Paul, Albany Democrat-Herald
Source: Albany Democrat-Herald 
Oregon -- When Oregonians approved the medical marijuana act in 1998, few people believed that less than a decade later, nearly 12,000 people would be allowed to legally grow and use the drug that is still considered illegal by the federal government.While many people see the use of medical marijuana in terms of black and white, 91 representatives of mid-valley businesses were told Tuesday there exists “lots of gray area.”
The free workshop was sponsored by Worksource Oregon and the Workdrugfree program of the Oregon Nurses Foundation. Speakers included Jerry Gjesvold, employer services manager at Serenity Lane Treatment Centers; Rick Howell, director of organizational development and human resources for Columbia Forest Products; and Paula Barran, an attorney and partner at the law firm Barran Liebman LLP.Gjesvold said that all mood altering drugs have a primary effect, what it does; and a secondary effect, its risks.“When there were only a couple hundred people with medical marijuana cards, most weren’t working and it wasn’t such a problem,” Gjesvold said. “Now, with 12,000 card holders, that’s not the case.”Gjesvold said there are several problems associated with marijuana use such as social acceptance, it’s usually smoked, which is unhealthy, and there are no dosage levels since the drug is self-administered.Marijuana’s active ingredient, THC, is fat-soluble, Gjesvold said, adding that the human brain is composed of fatty tissue.“Another big issue is how can an employer measure someone’s impairment?” Gjesvold said. “How can the employer determine if that person is fit for duty and still ensure the safety of other employees.”There is little research that details how long after using marijuana a person remains impaired, but some suggest it is up to three hours.Gjesvold admitted employers should not be concerned with just marijuana when it comes to an employee being deemed fit for duty. Workers may also be impaired from the effects of cold medications, caffeine or alcohol.The number of people in Oregon who have applied for a medical marijuana card is so large that the state has reduced the application fee from $150 to $50 because “the state shouldn’t be in the drug trafficking business,” Gjesvold said. The program once generated $1 million for the state’s General Fund.Gjesvold said it isn’t hard to get a medical marijuana card: More than 2,000 doctors have written prescriptions for their patients.Howell, of Columbia Forest Products, recounted his company’s test-case recently heard before the Oregon Supreme Court.The process started in 1998, when an employee slipped on ice and injured his shoulder and neck. The employee reportedly began using marijuana along with prescribed pain medication after the accident. He tested positive when a drug test was administered seven months later, but now he had a medical marijuana card.The company paid for a drug treatment program, which the man completed, but he again tested positive for drugs in October 2000, was put on 16 weeks of leave and failed his fourth drug test in March 2001.“Now, we’re waiting four to six months for the Supreme Court ruling,” Howell said.Howell said his company believes the law was created to “help those who are really ill.” He believes there are alternatives for many card holders, is concerned that impairment can’t be calculated and that doses aren’t measured.“We just want to treat marijuana the same as any other drug,” Howell said.Attorney Barran said the issue actually revolves around the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires employers and government agencies to make reasonable accommodations.“There’s a lot about marijuana we don’t know,” Barran said. “But, there’s nothing in Oregon law that requires employers to accommodate the use of medical marijuana in their workplace.”The law, however, doesn’t address the issue of an employee with a medical card using marijuana off-premises and then reporting for work.Registered Nurse Ed Glick was among a dozen people who protested outside the Phoenix Inn during and after the workshop.“It was slightly to the right,” said Glick, who sat through the program. “It was subtly construed to be open-minded, but there was a lot of manipulating of data that I’ve hard over and over.”Protester Trista Okel of Salem said she uses medical marijuana for fibromyalgia. She’s smoked marijuana for 13 years and has had a medical card for 20 months.“If I went looking for work, it would be difficult for me to find a job,” Okel said. “I’m not willing to lie about it.“Okel said she uses a marijuana vaporizer that releases the oils and THC without creating smoke. “I vaporize every day,” Okel said. “I did it before I came down here today. Do I appear impaired to you?”Source: Albany Democrat-Herald (OR)Author: Alex Paul, Albany Democrat-HeraldPublished: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 Copyright: 2005 Lee EnterprisesContact: alex.paul lee.netWebsite: http://www.democratherald.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Oregon Medical Marijuana Acthttp://www.voterpower.org/politics.htmlWhat To Do When Marijuana Comes To Workhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21296.shtmlHigh Court Hears Case on MMJ in The Workplacehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21277.shtmlEmployers Deal With Medical Marijuana Issuehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21235.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by mayan on November 17, 2005 at 17:26:57 PT
seige
Tucker said he's received more e-mails on this topic than any other!
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Comment #4 posted by billos on November 17, 2005 at 09:18:56 PT
             ......Caffeine.....
was always my "drug of choice" at work. Funny how employers ((many who smoke themselves)) can consider a situation humorous when an employee like me, coming in to work to drive a HazMat truck loaded with propane, arrives for work so pumped up with caffeine that my walk makes it look like I am having an epileptic fit. All observers would laugh like it's the funniest thing in the world. 
However, just mention Pot and they try to whisk you off to pee in the cup. The world is crazy ! !
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Comment #3 posted by siege on November 16, 2005 at 22:00:04 PT
 O T e-mail to Tucker Carlson
Sir:
Tucker Carlson, 
I have worked with or taught demolishion since 1958, when first year students can see the charges going off in the News, the day of 9 -11, and the bulding comes down in it's own footprint, it is hard to do for the best of us not to mess it up, they say that fire was 
cause of it giving up and come down, and ask you how it can be, what would you tell them sir? And it melted down if this was the case there would have been molten metal all though it not just in the base of the building as was found. and then for the every high ra·di·a·tion and radioactive substance that was recorded in the air that day. tha air craft did not carry enough depleted uranium to cause that much damage.
and ask you how it can be, what would you tell them sir? when the government tells the story an air plane hit the WTC or pentagon. This looks like LBJ all over again playing with the new demolishion (s) or toys they have. so one can say WOW look at what we have...
Don't Intercorse with me world. or I will kick you donkey, and so far it has not worked out the way Bush though it would... We have mastered out of that Info a massive antimatter production technique this and not the "void energy" being inexhaustible future energy coming out of nowhere unless one considers the transformation of matter into antimatter by thermonuclear compression as a means of "extracting energy from the void" once antimatter has been produced in this way it can be used to produce more no nuclear explosion is needed in every start this technology is in our hands incredibly more destructive bombs than the most powerful thermonuclear weapons available the fact that very small quantities of antimatter can be stocked in crystals under very stable electrostatic confinement this allows the production of tiny bombs "tennis ball" size thermal shield included of 50 ton TNT power in this size their limited power and the fact that no waste is produced we can scatter a great number of these mini antimatter bombs and cause damage we already possess a considerable number of these weapons with which they would be capable of reducing whole countries these bombs will soon be used. this is why the used Uranium weapons have been used to start the first Reactshion. could this be what took out the WTC. 
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on November 16, 2005 at 18:22:20 PT
Vaporizers
Okel said she uses a marijuana vaporizer that releases the oils and THC without creating smoke. “I vaporize every day,” Okel said. “I did it before I came down here today. Do I appear impaired to you?”When the mainstream media finally picks up on vaporizers then the government won't be able to demonize "smoked medicine". Their lame excuses are running out.THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Tucker Carlson Says 9/11 Skeptics Should 'Leave the Country', Commits Slander:
http://www.911blogger.com/2005/11/tucker-carlson-says-911-skeptics.html9/11 theorist clearly hits a nerve (Tucker Carlson):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8063563/#051116aTucker's Challenge:
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20051116145832940Tucker's e-mail: Tucker msnbc.com
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Comment #1 posted by runderwo on November 16, 2005 at 18:15:52 PT
reply
"Gjesvold said there are several problems associated with marijuana use such as social acceptance"Yes, a company has to maintain an appealing image if it expects customers, but why does a customer even need to know what employees of that company do in their free time?"it*s usually smoked, which is unhealthy"True, but cigarettes are far worse both in the short and long term, and companies are not firing tobacco smokers yet."and there are no dosage levels since the drug is self-administered."What is a "dosage level"? Maybe it's the amount that works?"Marijuana*s active ingredient, THC, is fat-soluble, Gjesvold said, adding that the human brain is composed of fatty tissue."Was there a point to that little factoid?"There is little research that details how long after using marijuana a person remains impaired, but some suggest it is up to three hours."Duration of intoxication is not the duration of impairment. And impairment must be measurable in order to be objective. You can't just say if a person is under the influence at all they are impaired. And this is even taking the assumption that all marijuana use is impairing, which I suspect to be false based on anecdotal experience."Gjesvold admitted employers should not be concerned with just marijuana when it comes to an employee being deemed fit for duty. Workers may also be impaired from the effects of cold medications, caffeine or alcohol."Well, if he has his premises wrong, the conclusion came out all right.If impairment really cannot be determined in medical users, perhaps the simpler answer is that there is no measurable impairment at those dose levels? Instead he seems to be of the opinion that devising a test is so hideously complicated that we ought to group discriminate against these people instead of putting forth the effort to distinguish responsible use from irresponsible use.
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