As expected, Alex Coolman at Drug Law Blog is all over today’s Supreme Court decision in Ross v. Raginwire Telecommunications, Inc., case no. S138130 (Jan. 24, 2008), in which the divided Supremes hold that the Compassionate Use Act, which decriminalized medical use of marijuana, does not preclude an employer from terminating an employee for such use. Coolman’s analysis is a quick fix plus it is very detailed and includes YouTube video of portions of the oral argument and commentary on the tension created with City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court, which I blogged about here.
Justice Kennard’s concurring and dissenting opinion in Ross notes Ragingwire’s argument that even Ross’s off-the-job use of marijuana might leave him under its influence at work, and her opinion also notes that Ross did not seek accommodation by permitting him to use marijuana at work. So, I got to wondering . . . .
If pain is chronic, you pretty much have it all the time, right? How do you forego marijuana use during working hours? If so, do you use a substitute pain reliever then or do you merely work with the pain? I’m genuinely curious about this. If anyone reading this uses medical marijuana for chronic pain, or at least is someone familiar with such use, could you answer those questions?
One Comment
Rebecca Saltzman
Gary Ross was in ASA’s office today doing media interviews so I can answer your questions from his point of view. He only needs to use medical cannabis when he has bad muscle spasms. Using medical cannabis helps his pain, even though he does not use it during the work day.
From what I’ve found in working with patients, each patient has different needs. Some patients use medical cannabis several times a day, while others use this medicine only a few times a month.