/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70464676/merlin_1259785.0.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23201491/merlin_2905404.jpg)
The Utah Legislature handed a invoice that will shield authorities workers from being discriminated in opposition to for holding a medical marijuana prescription by treating hashish playing cards “like every other prescription.”
Having handed the Senate 26-1 final month, SB46 handed the Home on Wednesday 68-4 and will probably be despatched to Gov. Spencer Cox to be signed into regulation. The invoice requires that state and native governments deal with medical marijuana prescriptions the identical as they deal with prescriptions for different managed substances.
The invoice was created after an Ogden firefighter was suspended with out pay for refusing handy over his medical hashish prescription. Levi Coleman filed go well with in opposition to town and the division final November, arguing that his suspension violated Utah’s Medical Hashish Act.
Handed in 2018, the act permits medical doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to deal with persistent ache and different medical circumstances. Medical hashish is acknowledged by the state as a legit therapy; the invoice would tackle a “loophole” that places cardholders in danger.
“What this invoice does is it offers some readability to what the legislative intent was ... in recognizing medical hashish as a legit use of hashish for treating sure illnesses reminiscent of persistent ache,” mentioned Rep. Joel Ferry, R-Brigham Metropolis, who's the ground sponsor of the invoice.
Rep. Timothy Hawkes, R-Centerville, was one of many 4 to vote in opposition to the invoice, and mentioned he did so for worry that it could give a “get out of jail free card” to individuals who use “road marijuana” recreationally.
Some lawmakers expressed concern that people who use marijuana on the job might keep away from penalties, however Ferry likened hashish to different managed substances like narcotics or different medication. Even when prescribed, most medication are solely allowed to be used below particular parameters, and workers may be disciplined for misusing or abusing prescribed drugs.
“I've some critical issues that I’ve heard. ... It’s unlawful for an officer to be utilizing (marijuana) whereas carrying a firearm and this creates critical challenges for them,” mentioned Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman.
SB46 says nothing about authorities workers who present as much as work intoxicated or excessive, Ferry informed fellow representatives on Wednesday, and governments would nonetheless be free to self-discipline workers who present up below the affect.
“We have already got intensive provisions for ... folks the place medical hashish interferes with their skill to do their job, that’s all within the regulation,” mentioned Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo. “All this says is, the straightforward, further act of searching for a card shouldn't be going to topic you to being fired out of your job.”
“I actually admire these issues,” Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, mentioned to those that fearful about workers working whereas intoxicated. “But when we needed to go down each managed substance that we now have and speak about abuse, each occupation and everyone could be at instances presumably abusing ... I imply, I’ll be trustworthy, generally I take two muscle relaxers once I’m solely purported to take one, proper?”
“We don’t come down on that,” she continued. “I believe we have to let folks work by this problem with their physicians and assist and supply schooling and coaching on methods to not abuse substances, as an alternative of simply saying, ‘You would possibly abuse this and so we’re not going to let you could have this drug and have this occupation.’”
Hawkes additionally expressed concern that marijuana has not been authorized by the Meals and Drug Administration for medical use and remains to be not authorized below federal regulation. He referred to as Utah’s earlier legalization of hashish a “authorized pathway that went outdoors of the way in which that we usually ... validate medication.”
To Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, the divergence from federal regulation is a characteristic of the invoice, not a bug.
“The founders and the framers regarded to the states to have a look at coverage, to have a look at issues that make sense for his or her folks,” he mentioned.
Quoting U.S. Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice John Roberts, Ivory mentioned, “States are separate and impartial sovereigns, and generally they should act prefer it.”
He mentioned the medical hashish is one the place Utah is appearing in the perfect curiosity of its residents, regardless of the place of the federal authorities.