By Alixel Cabrera, Utah News Dispatch
The annual routine clean-up of medical cannabis legislation aims to refine a number issues surrounding the permissible use of marijuana. One of these is to treat cannabis as a normal medicine in cases where there has been workplace discrimination.
The sponsor of the bill, Senate Minority leader Luz Escamilla (D-Salt Lake City), said that some Utah municipalities had asked their employees to reveal if they were medical cannabis cardholders, and then used this information to retaliate. This is against state law. Utah code does not specify any penalties for violators of the law.
The bill, SB233 titled Medical Cannabis Amendments tries to punish discrimination by withholding state funds from state agencies and other political subdivisions.
The bill was already approved by the Senate in a first voting, but its sponsor circled the text to address the concerns of the sponsors about penalties.
Escamilla, a reporter on Tuesday, said: “We will create a process that allows people to bring discriminatory practices to the Labor Commission and get a fair hearing.”
She said that the wording was “harsh”, but she is willing to compromise to get the bill passed.
Escamilla stated that “we’ve seen district attorneys in some cities saying that they don’t need to follow state laws because this substance is prohibited…federal law overrides state law” but that we have made the decision to do so when it comes cannabis as a whole. “We are trying to find a way to bring about consequences for specific political subdivisions that want to take that route.”
She said that municipalities who discriminate against prescribed medications and force employees to reveal they have a card could be violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
However, there are exceptions. First responders are still not allowed to use cannabis medically 12 hours prior to a shift.
Senate Majority leader Evan Vickers (R-Cedar City), who is a member of the Medical Cannabis Governance Structure Working Group in the Legislature, stated that discrimination occurs most often within fire departments. The group sent letters to municipalities that were in violation of state law, asking them to follow the laws. He said that the municipality refused and took punitive measures against certain employees.
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Sen. Todd Weiler (R-Woods Cross) was concerned that only funding for law enforcement would be taken from cities as a result of the bill. He feared that they would be punished even though they had done nothing wrong.
Escamilla clarified the fact that the law enforcement grant is not included in this bill. Weiler also had concerns.
Weiler added, “I am also concerned about employees in cities who drive cars, operate heavy machinery such as snowplows or operate with children and vulnerable adults or are otherwise involved in hazardous or dangerous jobs. It may make sense not to have them smoking marijuana when they do these things.” “And this bill imposes a number of fairly draconian punishments to punish an employer that may just be trying to keep their citizens safe.”
Mike Kennedy, R.-Alpine Senator, expressed his concern over the possibility of the state withholding “tens if not hundreds millions” of dollars. He recommended establishing a cap on the amount that the state can withhold from the cities. Escamilla has said that she will consider this option. Kennedy said that the part of the bill establishing the penalty may have unintended effects.
He said: “I’d screen them out and never hire them if they were making such egregious statements that could be used to justify discrimination in future uses of their medicine.”
Sen. Daniel Thatcher (R-West Valley City) defended the bill. He explained that, if the state decided to allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis, then it should be treated as any other medicine. He said that some lobbyists have misrepresented the potential outcomes of this new provision.
Even if the bill fails, discrimination against employees who have medical cannabis cards is still prohibited by the state. He said that personal beliefs are more important than the law.
The law prohibits them from doing what they are doing, regardless of how you or I or others feel about marijuana’s medicinal and health benefits. They’re still doing it. “They’re still doing this even though we passed a law two years ago that more clearly states [that discrimination in any form is prohibited],” he said. “Without some sort of enforcement mechanism they will continue substituting their own opinions and wishes over the laws of the state Utah.” “I think that’s unacceptable.”
This article was originally published by Utah News Dispatch.
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