Is Recreational (Or Even Medical) Pot Legal In Your State? Guess What: You Can Still Fail A Drug Test And Get Fired

Attention, people of Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C.: There may soon be pot shops on every corner in your state, like there are in Colorado and Washington, but before you head to a newly-opened dispensary to buy a few grams, remember that your boss can still give you a pink slip if you fail a drug test, whether pot is legal in your state or not.

According to CNN, of the 21 states where medical marijuana is legal (to say nothing of the two where recreational pot is legal), only two — Arizona and Delaware — have laws to protect employees from being fired for using legal medical pot.

This means that having a “card” (read: a doctor’s recommendation card that allows you to legally buy from a medical pot dispensary) will not spare you from the pink slip if you fail a drug test.

Quadriplegic Brandon Coats of Colorado found that out the hard way in 2010. He’s been using pot to treat pain since Colorado legalized it for medical use in 2000, but his employer, DISH Network, canned him for failing a drug test, and his “card” didn’t hold any water with his bosses. Coats has appealed, and his case is currently being considered by the Colorado Supreme Court.

Coats isn’t the only one. There’s also the famous case of the guy named Mike Boyer, who was first in line to buy legal recreational pot in Washington. In an almost staggeringly-bad case of Failure To Think Things Through, Boyer lost his job after being seen on TV legally buying pot from a pot shop. He later got his job back.

The problem is so bad, according to WRTV, that employment agencies in Washington (state) are having a hard time filling jobs because so many potential applicants are either failing drug tests, or refusing to take them at all. Julie Tappero, who works at West Sound Workforce, estimates that the number of applicants turned down for jobs because of legal pot use (or refusing to take a drug test) has tripled since legalization.

“I don’t think a lot of job seekers understand yet that they’re still going to be tested. We’re seeing more job seekers who are very candid and upfront about their use of marijuana, which they wouldn’t have admitted to in the past.”

The takeaway from all of this is clear: Before you head over to Danky Dave’s D.C. Discount or Portland Pete’s Purple Nurple Emporium or Stanky Anchorage, make sure you’ve read your employer’s drug-testing policy cover to cover, because you can still get fired for smoking legal pot.

[Image courtesy of: LFB]