By Greg Fleming

I support AB132, a bill designed to protect registered medical cannabis patients from employment discrimination. I have been using cannabis for my pain and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from my time spent in Iraq while serving in the Army.

Cannabis has saved my life. Almost nine years ago I tried to take my own life while I was suffering from PTSD. The V.A. had me on a mix of pills that were supposed to help, but only made me more suicidal. A fraternity brother offered me cannabis, and it was an instant change in how I felt. Cannabis has given me and so many other veterans our lives back. Yet the same medicine that has helped so much also prevents us from obtaining meaningful employment.
Why? Too many employers disqualify candidates who are otherwise qualified simply on the basis of testing positive for THC in a drug test, as succinctly stated in this NORML piece:

[Employers] fail to prove either impairment or how recently marijuana was consumed. This activity is particularly discriminatory in the case of marijuana, where such metabolites may be detectable for weeks or even months after consumption.

No one who has ever consumed cannabis has felt the impact three weeks later — yet it is still in your system, and you can fail a drug test on that basis alone. AB132 would end this, as a recent U.S. News piece explained:

This measure prohibits employers from arbitrarily discriminating against prospective employees who legally consume medical cannabis off-the-job in accordance with state law.

What employees do on their off time is none of an employer's business. Employers do not test for alcohol or pills. Why should they test for marijuana, which is now both medically and recreationally legal here in Nevada? I have seen with my own eyes that people who consume cannabis on their own time experience no impact on their job performance the next day. NORML again makes sense on this point:

Changes in the legal status of marijuana have not been shown to adversely impact workplace safety. For example, a pair of studies from 2016 find that legalization is associated with greater workforce participation and with fewer workplace absences. A 2017 report by the National Academies of Sciences found "insufficient evidence" to support an association between cannabis use and occupational accidents or injuries.

Unlike with alcohol, you do not get hangovers from marijuana. The impact of THC does not last that long, whereas alcohol's impact on your brain can last 12 hours or more.

Mounting evidence continues to prove there is no logical reason why adult marijuana consumers should be treated with any less respect, restricted more severely, and denied the same privileges we extend to responsible adults who enjoy a cocktail after a long day at the office. As a matter of fact, researchers with Colorado State University, Montana State University, and American University came to the conclusion that the legalization and regulation of medical marijuana is associated with a 19.5% reduction in the expected number of workplace fatalities.

Our results suggest that legalizing medical marijuana leads to a reduction in workplace fatalities among workers aged 25–44. This reduction may be the result of workers substituting marijuana in place of alcohol and other substances that can impair cognitive function and motor skills.

The studies cited in the above excerpt from NORML prove that marijuana has no adverse impact on workplace performance, productivity or safety.

Medical marijuana continues to help thousands of veterans and other pain patients — and we should not be disqualified from employment simply on the basis of testing positive for THC. Pills are killing us. Going to the local vet club and drinking only makes the problems worse. Twenty-two veterans are killing themselves everyday. Let us use the medicine that works for us — and let us work so we can move forward with our lives. 

AB132 does not allow people to get high on the job. It just prevents employers from refusing to hire someone who tests positive for marijuana use in a pre-employment drug screening.

We need to end the discrimination and stigma of marijuana. I served my country honorably. Many others did the same. We should not be denied employment simply on the basis of marijuana testing.

I have been unemployed for six months, since I was let go for testing positive for THC. I cannot pass a drug test, but I continue to look for work and hope to find an employer who either doesn't drug test or doesn't care (which isn't many).

I have a four-year degree and was honorably discharged. Yet me and so many other people like me still cannot find employment. This bill would help so many of us. We are just asking for a chance just like anyone else.

I urge other patients, veterans, and anyone else who believes it is time to stop drug testing for marijuana to support this bill. Write, call, and email your representative. Share with friends and tell them to do the same. This bill will help so many people.

Greg Fleming is an unemployed veteran living in Las Vegas. Contact him at [email protected]