Search Results: fired (179)

Amendment 64, the ballot initiative that voters approved in 2012 to legalize recreational weed in Colorado, says that “marijuana should be regulated in a manner similar to alcohol,” but that hasn’t made the plant equal to alcohol in the eyes of many employers. At companies across Colorado, testing positive for marijuana is still legal grounds for dismissal, even if your employer acknowledges that you weren’t high on the job.

Over seven years after Coloradans legalized marijuana, state lawmakers may finally be ready to address the issue this year. Introduced by Representative Jovan Melton (D- Aurora), House Bill 1089 “prohibits an employer from terminating an employee” for “lawful off-duty activities,” even if those activities are illegal under federal law.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that a company acted improperly when it fired medical marijuana patient Cristina Barbuto after she tested positive for pot. The Colorado Supreme Court reached the opposite conclusion in an analogous 2015 case, determining that DISH had the right to dismiss paralyzed MMJ patient Brandon Coats following his own positive test for cannabis. And while the Barbuto finding won’t directly impact the Colorado case, Coats’s lawyer sees a trend toward granting more patient protections here and in other medical marijuana states.


A week ago we told you about controversial cop Frank Lyga with the Los Angeles Police Department, who has been accused of being a racist asshole. It seems Lyga’s bosses think so, too. Lyga was terminated by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck, the detective’s attorney, Ira Salzman, told L.A. Weekly yesterday.
Lyga was sent home with pay in June after a recording of comments he made to an ongoing-training course for law enforcement was brought to the media’s attention by political consultant Jasmyne Cannick. The white detective, who justifiably* shot a black officer in 1997 while both were out of uniform, said, “I could have killed a whole truckload of them.”

Phoenix New Times 2014.


Dr. Sue Sisley was about to conduct some of the most important cannabis research in the United States when she was abruptly fired from her job at the University of Arizona this past June for what she says (and what clearly appears to be) purely political reasons.
Our cohorts at the Phoenix New Times have done an amazing job looking into what happened and, more importantly, what is in store for Sisley’s study that looks at how military veterans can use cannabis to help treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.


New Mexico’s Donna Smith says she was fired illegally for her off-work consumption of medical cannabis to deal with post-traumatic stress she was diagnosed with after serving in the military in the 1990s. New Mexico has laws against discriminating against people for their medical conditions, she argues.
But her employer, Presbyterian Health Services, says they are “protecting” their other employees from Smith and her off-work, medical use of cannabis.

Sue Sisley.

The lead researcher for a study looking at medical marijuana for post-traumatic stress disorder at the University of Arizona has been fired, and she is now claiming it is because of her cannabis lobbying.
Sue Sisley, formerly the assistant director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program at UA, was informed this week that her contract will not be renewed next year but was not given any reason in a letter from the interim dean of the College of Medicine.
But Sisley says the reasons are pretty clear. She says it is because of her advocacy at the state capitol for medical cannabis research – particularly in PTSD treatments for returning military veterans.
That included speaking at the state capitol to provide some sense to the argument when people like State Sen. Kimbery Yee blocked research funding based on her own political agenda. Keep in mind, the $6 million she blocked from being used was all excess from medical marijuana patient and dispensary fees. But Yee didn’t want it to go back to the benefit of medical marijuana patients.

@NBCLA twitter.

Earlier this week, we told you about an unnamed suspected medical marijuana dispensary robber who shot at police while trying to flee. We’ve now got a name and possible punishment: the L.A. County District Attorney’s office this week charged the 30-year-old with “two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, two counts of second-degree robbery, one count of second-degree commercial burglary and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon,” according to a statement.
While the robbery can’t be blamed on the dispensary itself, as one reader pointed out in our comments, without banks to take their money these retail pot shops are going to become targets for crime like this. LA Weekly has the rest of the follow up.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Border Patrol agents said this was an unsuccessful attempt — but how many times had it worked before this attempt?

More than 30 cans of marijuana totaling 85 pounds were fired via cannon from Mexico into Yuma, Arizona, Customs and Border Protection officials said on Tuesday.

The cans of cannabis were discovered near the Colorado River in Yuma on Friday, reports Lauren Steussy at NBC San Diego.
The discovery was “another unique but unsuccessful attempt” to smuggle drugs, according to Border Patrol agents.

THC Finder

A state employee in New Mexico — where medical marijuana is legal — says she was fired after a drug test showed she had been using cannabis, under a doctor’s orders, to treat post traumatic stress disorder.

The woman told reporters she had never reported for work impaired, and “was just looking for relief,” reports Stephen C. Webster at The Raw Story.
“I just wanted to be able to get up and live my life the way I used to,” she said.
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