Track and field phenomenon Sha’Carri Richardson on Saturday qualified for the 2024 Olympics, three years after the star sprinter was disqualified from the U.S. team because of a positive drug test for THC metabolites. Richardson’s win in a qualifying event sets the stage for her to run in this year’s Summer Olympic Games, which kick off in Paris on July 26.

Richardson took the top spot in the 100-meter sprint at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon, winning the race with this year’s world-leading time of 10.71 seconds. After a sluggish start in the race, Richardson passed the other runners at the 60-meter mark and retained her lead to the finish line to secure her spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.

“This time around, I feel as if it was more — definitely still confident, still my exciting, normal self, but more so the overwhelming feeling of joy,” Richardson said following the race.

Richardson’s training partners Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha “Tee Tee” Terry rounded out the top three finishers in Saturday’s 100-meter race, with Jefferson running a personal best time of 10.80 seconds and Terry taking third with a time of 10.98. All three sprinters qualified for the 2024 Olympics with their performances at the meet and the trio will head to Paris next month to compete for the U.S. team.

“It definitely confirmed the year we’ve been training for. We’ve been preparing for this moment, it’s a full circle moment,” Richardson said about the three teammates, USA Today reported. “We’re grateful and appreciative and I’m super excited to grow and build from this momentum that we’ve already established. It’s more than exciting to continue to go forward with my girls. We didn’t put the world on notice, the world already knew. …We knew this moment could be possible if we put our minds, body and spirit into it.”

Last Chance at Olympic Gold Thwarted By Positive Drug Test

Richardson was disqualified from the U.S. Olympic team for the 2020 Games, which were postponed to the following year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She had secured a spot on the team for the 100-meter event at the Olympic trials in 2021, but Richardson agreed to a 30-day suspension after testing positive for weed in a test taken at the qualifying meet. With the suspension running through the 100-meter Olympic race, Richardson was dropped from the team and denied the chance to race at the Tokyo Games.

“In the past three years, I’ve grown just a better understanding of myself,” she said in a post-race press conference, according to a report from The Athletic. “A deeper respect and appreciation for my gift that I have in the sport and as well as my responsibility to the people that believe in and support me. I feel like all of those components have helped me grow and will continue to help me grow into the young lady that I have been divined and by God (have) been blessed to be.”

“It manifests,” she added, “in having a deeper love and a deeper care for the talent I have been given. And I take advantage of it. Nurturing it. Taking care of my body. Take care of my mind as well as my spirit.”

Richardson heads to Paris at a time of peak career performance. She took a gold medal in the 2023 World Track and Field Championships and led against a strong slate of international competition at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon last month. With her win at the Olympic qualifying event on Saturday, Richardson is the early favorite to take gold in the 100-meter sprint at the Paris games next month.

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Cleveland, Ohio’s mayor announced the city would end its “antiquated” rules for employment, specifically removing the practice of drug-testing job applicants for cannabis.

Mayor Justin M. Bibb announced Dec. 7 that the City of Cleveland has “modernized” its Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy to remove certain language around pre-employment cannabis testing that previously automatically disqualified job applicants. It’s his latest move after pushing to expunge low-level cannabis convictions.

Pre-employment testing for city jobs will now be limited to only a few select positions that are identified as safety or security-sensitive, as well as positions that fall under the federal government’s Department of Transportation (DOT).  

The announcement was released on the same day that Issue 2 became law. Over 57% of voters in Ohio—and over 75% of Clevelanders—approved the bill 30 days ago. That means Cleveland residents approve of adult-use cannabis, three to one.

“The criminalization of marijuana in our state and the punitive effects it has had on education, housing, and employment opportunities have lasted far too long, but will eventually be a thing of the past—thanks to Ohioans who made their voices heard loud and clear last month when they voted to approve Issue 2,” said Mayor Bibb. “We are proud to continue leading the way by rolling out these updates, which builds on our prior marijuana reform efforts and other initiatives aimed at improving our HR policies.”

The following jobs are considered safety sensitive and will continue to drug test for pot:

• Police
• Fire
• EMS
• Department of Port Control
• Positions requiring a commercial driver’s license (CDL)
• Positions operating heavy equipment or mechanical tools

“We are constantly evaluating our policies to ensure they align with the needs and desires of both our current and prospective employees,” Director of Human Resources Matt Cole said in the release. “Pre-employment screening can oftentimes create obstacles in filling open positions by preventing otherwise qualified candidates from even applying. These policy updates are more cost-effective and will ultimately help us widen the applicant pool for several city positions.”

The city of Baltimore, as well as Washington, Nevada, and Montana have enacted similar policies, and leaders in Cleveland noticed. Despite these changes, the city will still follow rules and regulations when it comes to the Drug-Free Workplace Act.

“Maintaining a drug-free workplace is needed for obvious reasons, but it’s also important for us to be cognizant of the fact that the state is still finalizing regulation, taxation, and licensing terms and processes,” Law Director Mark Griffin said in the release. “We will be keeping a keen eye on how things get sorted out in the legislature and court system, and will adapt procedures and update policy as necessary as the situation evolves in Columbus.”

Mayor Justin Bibb

The city noted that in 2022, the Bibb Administration filed motions to expunge over 4,000 cannabis-related conviction records and then pushed for changes to State law to simplify the expungement process. 

Thanks to these efforts, Ohio Senate Bill 288 was signed into law and took effect last April, allowing city officials to expunge records more efficiently and effectively. City officials also have partnered with other agencies to hold multiple expungement clinics.  

The Bibb Administration has also spearheaded various other HR policy-related updates since the mayor took office, including opening City Hall’s first gender-inclusive restroom last June and offering employees a new comprehensive paid parental leave policy.

Bibb was young when he won office at age 34 as the city’s first millennial mayor. Last May, he moved to expunge low-level cannabis convictions. 

“I talked to so many residents who couldn’t get a job, who couldn’t get access to a student loan, who couldn’t get access to qualify for housing because they had collateral sanctions on their record, many of which stem from low-level marijuana convictions,” Bibb said.

Grants to cover filing fees and expungement clinics are rolling out to make expungements possible. “We knew we were going to face some uphill battles in the legal system,” he said.

Bibb also advocated for Senate Bill 288, which was signed into law by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine last January. The bill helps enable the city of Cleveland to provide expungements by removing barriers that previously hindered Bibb’s attempts to expunge records even earlier.  

“We try to fight on behalf of our residents,” Bibb said.

The Bibb administration also worked to notify eligible people with cannabis conviction records. After that, the city filed motions on behalf of those people using a $10,000 grant to help pay for filing fees related to expungement and the sealing of records. The city is working with organizations to host expungement clinics where people can file and close their cases, without going to court. 

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The Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) announced its pilot project to launch a cannabis saliva test for determining impairment in drivers.

According to OTS Director Mike Hanson, the test is being designed to determine recent impairment. “We’re not looking to find somebody who used 10 days or 14 days ago. We’re looking for somebody who used within the last couple of hours,” Hanson explained.

The saliva test would screen for a total of six substances, such as cannabis and opioids, using both the SoToxa Mobile Test System and Dräger DrugTest 5000. Both devices have already previously been tested in other states.

The state’s 320 Drug Recognition Evaluators (DREs), who have been trained to recognize signs of impairment due to substances other than alcohol, will be given saliva devices for the program. A majority of the DREs are local law enforcement officers, but one-third are state troopers. “We’re going to get a good sampling not only in metro areas, but also in the greater Minnesota areas that will give us an idea of how prevalent drug impaired driving is on our roads,” Hanson continued.

In practice, if an officer comes across a driver who appears to be impaired, they will ask them to perform field sobriety tests, followed by swabbing their mouth, if they consent. “That swab is then inserted into a cartridge, and that cartridge then is inserted into the instrument. Roughly five minutes later, you will get your result,” Hanson said. A news report from Fox 9 explained that individuals won’t be arrested or have their licenses revoked while participating.

The pilot program will help the department gather data by using participants who provide voluntary saliva samples. The goal is to determine the presence of one of the six substances, not the varying levels of a substance within a person’s body. “If you have Delta 9 in your system, that tells the officer [the driver] used recently, and that very likely is the cause of their impairment, or part of their impairment if they’re using other things in in conjunction with that cannabis,” Hanson said.

Data shows that between 2013-2017, there were 8,069 incidents involving intoxicated drivers, and between 2018-2022, that number increased to 15,810.

The goal is that OTS will gather data and submit it to the Minnesota Legislature in fall 2024, with the goal of asking lawmakers to update state law to allow the devices to be used by law enforcement to arrest impaired drivers.

In Michigan in 2017, a similar Oral Fluid Roadside Analysis Pilot Program was launched with the use of a device called an Alere DDS2, which tests for amphetamine, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine and opiates. Between 2019-2020, Phase II of the program was launched. Similar roadside saliva tests have been implemented in Alabama and Kansas as well.

Following adult-use cannabis legalization in Canada in 2018, the country altered its laws to permit the use of roadside saliva drug tests with the Dräger DrugTest 5000. In 2019, the Canadian government approved the SoToxa Mobile Test System for use by law enforcement. 

The Victorian Parliament in Australia recently approved a bill to address and implement a medical cannabis driving trial in October 2023 as well. “This bill will allow us to deliver a world-leading research trial into medical cannabis and driving, enhancing our understanding of how cannabis affects driving behavior and informing future reform,” said road safety minister Melissa Horne.

Victoria was the first Australian province to legalize medical cannabis six years ago. “The reality is patients continue to wait. Medicinal cannabis has been prescribed since 2016, that’s a long time for patients to have to wait for a resolution,” said Australia MP Rachel Payne. “A medicinal cannabis patient should be treated like any other patient who is prescribed medicine by a doctor who also provides appropriate advice about when that patient is safe to drive.”

However, there are concerns regarding the efficacy of these roadside drug tests. In 2019, a Vancouver-based attorney found that the Dräger DrugTest 5000 was not a reliable way to determine impairment, claiming that it was producing false positives for people who had only consumed CBD. “We found there was a retention period of half an hour. It was still found in the mouth even though there were no lingering effects in the body,” said attorney Kyla Lee.

Other complaints included that the device wasn’t performing properly in cold weather. “We need to put more effort in this country into finding a device that can tell the difference between something that’s impairing a person and something that’s merely present in their system,” Lee explained.

In September of this year, an article published on the American Council on Science and Health website explained how these drug tests are still not up to par. In a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, determined that roadside saliva tests in theory are useful, but not accurate. “One court concluded that ‘there is as yet no scientific agreement on whether, and, if so, to what extent, these types of tests are indicative of marijuana intoxication,’” researchers wrote.

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A major supplier of drug testing kits has announced an updated screening panel which no longer tests for cannabis and prioritizes testing for fentanyl. 

Psychemedics, a Massachusetts-based producer of drug testing kits announced Friday that they would be launching a new five-panel drug screen which will “[shift] the spotlight from marijuana to the paramount threat of fentanyl” amid a nationally changing legislative landscape with regard to cannabis laws and continually skyrocketing rates of fentanyl overdose. 

Psychemedics, which by their own admission manufactured the first commercially viable hair test for the presence of drugs in 1986, said Friday that the way drug tests are currently performed are outdated and do not address the needs of employers or employees. Current drug tests are also not great at detecting fentanyl compared to traditional opioids, according to Psychemedics. 

“As we grapple with an ongoing labor shortage and with marijuana’s legal landscape evolving in 49 states, it’s clear that the time for a change has come. Traditional 5-panel drug tests, rooted in a four-decade-old paradigm, have failed to evolve in today’s drug market and are unable to detect the rising drug, fentanyl,” Psychemedics said in a press release. 

Psychemedics drug tests, which use hair as opposed to urine, are also reportedly much more effective than the urine tests at detecting other drugs besides cannabis as well. According to the press release, the new drug screening panels are 25 times more effective at detecting opioids, 23 times more accurate in identifying cocaine use and 13 times more adept at pinpointing amphetamine use. 

The President and CEO of Psychemedics said in a statement that these updates and changes to a very traditionally-based practice are necessary due to shifts in workplace/public perception of risks associated with cannabis use versus the harms and risks associated with fentanyl. 

“Few challenges in the workplace have undergone as dramatic a transformation as the shifting dynamics between marijuana and fentanyl,” remarked Brian Hullinger, President and CEO at Psychemedics. “Recognizing this shift, Psychemedics has developed the Advanced 5-Panel to bridge the gap.”

The announcement came after a study which Psychemedics said encompassed data from over 1 million drug screenings. Unlike traditional urine-testing which can detect the presence of cannabis anywhere from a few days to around a month, hair testing has traditionally been a source of gripes from cannabis users whose hair follicles can sometimes test positive for cannabis even several months after use. 

These new tests aim to change that standard by providing a more accurate reading than urine testing without the associated stigma of unfairly targeting cannabis users. The FDA has already approved the updated form of testing, according to the press release. 

“For decades, Psychemedics has remained at the forefront of innovation, responding to the ever-evolving needs of our clients,” the press release said. “The Advanced 5-Panel Drug Screen epitomizes this legacy, offering clients a cost-effective choice to adapt their testing protocols in sync with evolving priorities and employment policies.”

This marks a step forward for cannabis users who wish to consume the plant outside of working hours but Psychemedics is only one of several companies producing drug test kits. A report by Global Market Insights valued the drug testing market size at $6.2 billion in 2022 and estimated the market would jump 16.3% over the next decade to reach $27.1 billion by 2022. 

Some states, like California, have opted to pass laws restricting an employer’s ability to reprimand their employees for cannabis use but many states, even states that have passed adult-use cannabis laws remain without employee protections for cannabis use. 

Psychemedics, according to their website, supplies pre-employment and employee drug screening services to thousands of companies including several companies listed within the Fortune 500. The company credits themselves with pioneering the modern, widely-adapted practice of using hair to screen for drugs.

“We invented the science that re-invented the drug testing industry,” Hullinger said in a statement on the Psychemedics website. 

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has stopped using a particular brand of cocaine field testing kits after more than a decade due to an investigation by one of their detectives which revealed the kits potentially give false positive results.

According to local news outlets in the area, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office issued a notice to all officers to immediately stop using the test kits after a detective learned that multiple over-the-counter medications caused the kits to show a positive reading for cocaine.

JSO officials issued a statement about the matter on Thursday and said they never had any previous reason to suspect any issues with Scott Company Field-Testing Kits and that results from the kits were pre-emptive, that is subject to more thorough lab testing after an arrest had been made.

“Many law enforcement agencies in Northeast Florida and across the country use and have used Scott Company Field-Testing Kits for Cocaine for many years without issue or incident,” a Sheriff’s Office statement said. “These kits were exclusively used as presumptive field tests, not for evidentiary purposes at criminal trials. JSO utilizes other test kits for other controlled substances.”

The Sheriff’s Office immediately informed all legal personnel in the area whose court cases may have been affected by bad results from the Scott Company Field Testing Kits. Prosecutors met with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Wednesday to discuss the implications of what had happened.

“We immediately informed the Public Defender’s Office, Regional Conflict Counsel, the chief judge and local criminal defense bar of this development,” State Attorney’s Office spokesman David Chapman said. “We are conducting a thorough review of cases potentially implicated to determine what actions need to be taken moving forward to address this issue.”

CEO of the Scott Company, Ian Scott issued a press release about the situation on Friday, saying any claims that their tests were faulty were completely false and any media portrayal of the tests as anything but suitable for the purpose they were designed is due to a lack of understanding about how the tests work. 

“The implication that our A-2 Scott Cocaine Reagent Cocaine Residue Swab product is ‘faulty’ is inaccurate. The reagent test is not conceived, designed, manufactured, and/or sold in a manner that is deficient, unreliable or inaccurate,” the press release said. “Since its inception in 1974, the chemical reaction that makes the product function as intended has always done and will always do what it is designed to do – to detect the presence of cocaine, within the scope of the laws of chemistry that govern its reactions. While we strive to be fully transparent and respectfully acknowledge the limitations of the laws of chemistry that the product is subject to.”

The press release from the Scott Company went on to explain that their tests utilized reagents that react a certain way when in the presence of certain substances but it’s virtually impossible to test a reagent against everything that could possibly make it react because there are millions and millions of known chemicals. This is why their tests are meant to be used in the field paired with the arresting officer’s judgment and confirmed with further lab analysis later on.

“While presumptive testing is extremely reliable, faster, and less expensive than other methods of testing, it is possible (though unlikely) to receive a false positive result under certain conditions, when certain substances are introduced into the presumptive test,” the press release said. “We strongly advise the individual officer and appropriate agencies to use common sense and evaluate the totality of the circumstances before making an arrest.”

The Scott Company laid out a ten point summary of why false positives for cocaine against a laundry list of random over the counter medications was, in their view, not a scientifically sound approach to calling their tests faulty. They pointed out that there is not a single presumptive field test for cocaine of its kind that would provide a positive result for cocaine and only cocaine. The Scott Company also pointed out that the coatings on many of the medications used for testing could have provided a false positive result. 

“Additionally, please note that to date, no litigation, either against us, or involving the use of our products by our clients, has resulted in a decision for the plaintiff,” the press release said. 

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had not yet responded to the Scott Company’s claims at the time this article was written. The Scott Company’s website claims their products are used by hundreds of law enforcement agencies nationwide.

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The Drug Enforcement Administration recently defended their decision to fire an “outstanding” special agent fired earlier this year for using CBD oil to replace his pain medication, a decision which caused him to test positive for cannabis on a drug test.

According to court documents, Special Agent Anthony Armour filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in May of this year against the DEA. A response brief was filed recently in which the DEA fully defends their decision to terminate Agent Armour, calling his actions “reckless” and “incompatible with the agency’s sole mission to enforce our Nation’s drug laws.”

Armour served as a DEA agent for 15 years before he was subjected to a random drug screening which came back positive for THC. Armour reportedly came forward voluntarily with samples of the CBD products he was using for lab analysis, two out of three of which came back under the .3% THC limit set by the Controlled Substances Act, and the third came in at .35% which is within the acceptable margin for error. 

Armour also stated in his lawsuit that he was using the CBD products to treat pain from injuries sustained playing football and during his career in law enforcement. Needless to say, as a member of the DEA, Armour was fully aware of the dangers of opioids and alleged that he was using the CBD as an alternative to his pain medication, pursuant to the 2018 Farm Bill which legalized commercial hemp products (and a whole slough of other weird shit).

“For Armour and many others in this country, this change meant new opportunities—particularly as to CBD, a non-THC cannabinoid in the cannabis plant,” the lawsuit said. “Armour hoped CBD oils could play a role in his pain management. That he did is unsurprising. From Martha Stewart to Wrigley Field, CBD has become embedded in American culture.”

Despite Armour’s rationale and despite the lawsuit he filed, the DEA doubled down on their decision in their court response brief filed August 30.

“Mr. Armour was an outstanding DEA agent when he took a chance in 2019. He believed it was unlikely that CBD products would cause him to test positive for marijuana, but he knew it was possible, and he bought those unregulated products on the internet and consumed them anyway,” the brief said. “Mr. Armour argues that he ‘displayed negligence or poor decision-making,’ and DEA properly held him accountable for his poor decisions when they resulted in a verified positive drug test. DEA lost trust in Mr. Armour and properly removed him.”

The response brief was filed just days prior to the Department of Health and Human Services official recommendation to move cannabis to Schedule 3, putting the ball into the DEA’s court to decide whether or not to honor the recommendation of the DHHS. It is not immediately clear if rescheduling cannabis would allow federal employees like Agent Armour to use cannabis products. 

The filing went on to say: “This was an unfortunate ending to a lengthy and productive career in Federal law enforcement. But DEA is charged with enforcing our Nation’s drug laws, and Federal employees are responsible for what they put in their bodies. There is a clear and genuine nexus between a removal for illegal drug use and the efficiency of the service at a drug enforcement agency.”

The DEA has clarified since terminating Armour in 2020 that agents are under no circumstances to use any CBD products for exactly this reason. All hemp contains at least trace amounts of THC (hemp and cannabis are the same plant after all) and thus, it’s far too easy to accidentally or mistakenly test positive for THC while using such products. They have also clarified that synthetic cannabinoids and some of the hemp-derived cannabinoids are not legal products in their purview. Their tireless fight against opioid abuse also carries on, if not in a somewhat contradictory fashion.

“One wonders then, why they are in federal court defending the termination of a special agent who was taking these dangerous drugs off the street for doing nothing other than, for his pain, ingesting a product advertised as CBD oil that, unbeknownst to him, would test right at the border between hemp and marijuana—precisely because he didn’t want to use opiates,” an attorney for Armour said to Marijuana Moment on Friday.

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New Zealand rugby player, Isaia Walker-Leawere, recently tested positive for THC and has been banned from playing on any team for one month. The 26-year-old lock (a second row rugby position) plays on the Hurricanes in Super Rugby; Hawke’s Bay; as well as the international rugby team, Māori All Blacks. According to the New Zealand Herald, he’s played in over 120 first-class matches over the past eight years.

Walker-Leawere tested positive following a match in Fiji on May 6, where he received two yellow cards and a red card. Due to the red card, Walker-Leawere went through the Sanzaar Super Rugby Pacific Judicial Process and the incident was reviewed by the Sanzaar Foul Play Review Committee on May 8. The verdict was that Walker-Leawere wouldn’t be suspended or punished.

However, on May 10 he spent time with friends to “wind down” from the week’s events, which is when he consumed cannabis. His suspension for testing positive went into effect starting on August 5.

“We don’t believe that cannabis is performance-enhancing,” said Drug Free Sport New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Paterson. “Getting Mr. Walker-Leawere substance of abuse support and back into sport after serving his sanction is the most practical outcome, and supports long-term athlete health and wellbeing.”

However, Paterson added that attempts are being made to remove cannabis from the list of illegal substances. “We’ve advocated to remove cannabis from the prohibited list for over 15 years and will continue to do so,” Paterson continued. “However, while cannabis remains on the prohibited list, the best approach to avoiding a positive test is to avoid using it.”

The Drug Free Spot New Zealand follows guidelines from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in terms of prohibited substances. According to WADA’s 2023 Prohibited List, cannabis is banned in all forms. “All natural and synthetic cannabinoids are prohibited except for cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis, hashish and marijuana are prohibited. Products, including foods and drinks, containing cannabinoids, are also prohibited. All synthetic cannabinoids that mimic the effects of THC are prohibited,” WADA stated on its website.

Drug Free Sport New Zealand allows athletes to undergo a treatment program to reduce their ban duration. For Walker-Leawere, he would be banned for three months instead of one month if he decided not to participate in the program.

Like other athletes in the U.S., some rugby players have come forth about the benefits of cannabis consumption. Welsh rugby player Dominic Day and English rugby player George Kruis also spoke up in support of CBD in the past, which led to the founding of their athletic-focused brand, fourfiveCBD in 2019.

FourfiveCBD targets health and wellness for quality of life improvements. “At fourfive, our mission is simple—we want to help people lead healthier, happier lives through the power of CBD and Vitamin supplements—and we only use the highest quality plant extracts and ingredients. Our premium blends are designed by world class scientists to fit seamlessly into your daily routine, whether you’re taking CBD oil, capsules or vitamins,” the brand wrote on its website.

According to a BBC interview, Day started using CBD when recovering from knee surgery, which helped reduce inflammation and improve his sleep as well. “The first thing I noticed was my sleep was amazing. The inflammation in my knee also went down and it relieved the pain. I was sold from then on,” Day said.

Kruis also added the benefits of sleep, as well as reducing his use of opioids. “Sleep was definitely one of the things it helped with for me,” Kruis said. “But I also have low-level chronic pain and I was able to reduce the amount of painkillers I was taking.”

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A police officer in Jersey City, New Jersey was fired for testing positive for THC in a drug test. Last week, that officer was reinstated to his position with back pay.

Norhan Mansour was fired well after Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis in New Jersey in 2021 (with sales beginning in April 2022). After the bill was signed, the Jersey City Police Department clarified that although cannabis was legal, police officers were prohibited from consuming cannabis when off the clock. Mansour was one of four officers who were terminated due to a positive THC test in June 2022, all of whom pursued a lawsuit in April 2023.

Mansour’s attorney Peter Paris explained the hypocrisy of his firing. “What Jersey City is doing is equivalent to terminating police officers because they had a beer off duty,” Paris said in June. “Except it’s worse because there is no constitutional right to drink beer, while there is a constitutional right in New Jersey to consume cannabis.”

According to a Jersey City Times report from June, the case was settled by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. In favor of reinstating Mansour, Judge Kimberly Moss said that state law “…precludes employers from terminating an employee simply because the employee uses cannabis and precludes employers from terminating their employees solely due to the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in the employee’s system,” Moss said. 

At a meeting on August 2, the commission claimed that the city’s argument is “unpersuasive,” adding that the federal ban on cannabis consumers owning firearms doesn’t apply to law enforcement officers. “The Civil Service Commission finds that the action of the appointing authority in removing the appellant was not justified,” the commission stated. “The Commission therefore reverses that action and grants the appeal of Norhan Mansour. The Commission further orders that the appellant be granted back pay, benefits, and seniority from the first date of separation without pay until the day of reinstatement.”

In October 2022, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission introduced a new directive on drug testing requirements for law enforcement in the state. By February 2023, Attorney General Matthew Platkin had also revised a policy on drug testing for law enforcement. “Due to the complex nature of the law, and in order to provide uniformity in state employee drug testing as it pertains to the use of cannabis, it is necessary to revise this policy,” Platkin stated.

The topic of individuals owning firearms has also been explored in depth over the past few years, both in relation to law enforcement as well as civilian gun ownership under federal law.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced earlier last year that she planned to sue the Biden administration “…to block a federal rule that prohibits medical marijuana users from buying guns or maintaining concealed-carry permits.” Then in Florida last November, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit that aimed to prevent medical cannabis consumers from buying firearms. 

In February, a federal court case in Oklahoma ruled that banning cannabis consumers from owning guns is unconstitutional. Brian Vicente of Vicente Sederberg LLP described the case as a significant step forward for cannabis consumer rights.

“For decades, and across various states, medical cannabis patients have been asked to choose between participating in their state’s legal cannabis program or owning a firearm,” Vicente told High Times in February. “This federal court decision secures the rights of adults to both use cannabis and own guns and effectively removes the restriction, and associated stigma, that these adults face. This is part of a broader trend of conservative states embracing marijuana policy, with both Alabama and Mississippi establishing medical cannabis programs in 2022 and Oklahoma poised to legalize cannabis on March 7 of this year.”

Similarly, a federal court decision in Texas in April also found that banning consumers from possessing firearms is unconstitutional as well. “Quite simply, there is no historical tradition of denying individuals their Second Amendment rights based solely (or even partially) on the use of marijuana,” the case filing stated.

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The city of Amsterdam, New York owes nearly $200,000 after firing a medical marijuana patient for failing a drug screening for cannabis, a jury decided in a legal action filed by the dismissed city worker. The jury found that the city had discriminated against Thomas Apholz, a wastewater treatment plant worker who was suspended in February 2020 and later fired after testing positive for marijuana.

“They couldn’t fire him fast enough,” Kevin A. Luibrand, Apholz’s attorney told the Times-Union. “They gave him a termination letter on a Monday that fired him the prior Sunday so he couldn’t present his prescription card.”

New York legalized the medical use of marijuana in 2014 with the passage of the Compassionate Care Act, which went into effect in 2016. State law also grants registered medical marijuana patients disability status, which affords protection from employment discrimination for using cannabis.

Patient Fired After Failed Drug Screening

In 2017, Apholz tested positive for cannabis in a random drug screening but was allowed to keep his job under a “last chance agreement” he signed with the city. Under the terms of the agreement, he was subject to termination for future violations of the city’s drug policies.

Apholz tested positive for cannabis in a random drug screening again in 2020 and was subsequently suspended and eventually fired. He then filed suit in state Supreme Court in Montgomery County, alleging unlawful employment discrimination and failure to accommodate his disability as required by the New York Humans Rights Law.

A year before the second positive drug screening, Apholz had obtained a medical marijuana recommendation for lower back pain. In a five-day trial before Judge Rebecca Slezak, Apholz’s attorneys noted that he only used cannabis in capsule form “in the evening at home when his pain was at its worst” and had never used medical marijuana at work. According to court records, Apholz notified “agents” of the city that he was a certified patient in the state Medical Marijuana Program and had a valid Department of Health certification for a medical marijuana prescription at the time of the drug screening.

The city “was made aware of plaintiff’s prescription multiple times, and therefore his disability, before he was terminated,” court filings state. “Defendant has presented no evidence that plaintiff’s use of marijuana impacted his ability to complete his job duties in any way.”

“The evidence indicates that plaintiff was an effective worker while having his marijuana prescription, and that he can perform his job safely and satisfactorily, and defendant has failed to provide any evidence on the record that plaintiff’s use of marijuana has ever negatively impacted his job performance or placed anyone in danger,” court filings state.

Attorneys for the city argued that Apholz had not properly notified the city’s employee relations director about his disability and medical marijuana prescription as required by city policy. Instead, the city maintained that Apholz had notified city engineer Mike Clark of his medical marijuana registration on March 5, 2020, after he had already been suspended for the second failed drug screening. Additionally, the city’s attorneys claimed that Apholz never presented any affirmation the prescription would not interfere with his performance of his “safety sensitive position” involving the use of large machinery and handling hazardous chemicals.

Jury Finds In Patients’ Favor

The jury reached its verdict on June 30, finding that the city discriminated against Apholz for using medical marijuana and awarding him a judgment of $191,762. He is also eligible to request the judge to order reinstatement to his job and for the city to pay his legal fees.

“The jury found that senior Amsterdam city officials refused to provide Mr. Apholz an accommodation for his medical condition after he informed the city that he had a medical marijuana prescription following a random drug test, and summarily fired him on March 16, 2020 without a civil service hearing and without having any discussions with him about his medical condition,” according to a statement from Luibrand quoted by The Daily Gazette.

Aaron Bloom, the CEO of DocMJ, a medical marijuana physician practice that provides compassionate care to patients, says that the jury’s verdict underscores the importance of laws that protect medical cannabis patients.
“Respecting patients’ medical cannabis rights, particularly in the workplace, is of utmost importance. It is crucial to acknowledge the legitimacy of medical cannabis as a therapeutic option and ensure that patients who rely on it for their well-being are treated with fairness and understanding,” Bloom writes in an email to High Times. “Medical cannabis patients also have a duty to not show up for work under the influence of cannabis in a manner that violates workplace safety. By providing appropriate accommodations and respecting the rights of employees with valid medical cannabis prescriptions, we can create an environment that promotes inclusivity and supports individuals in managing their health conditions effectively.”

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A proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act by Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida would cease cannabis testing for military members, Politico reports.

Should the amendment make it into the National Defense Authorization Act, it would further relax rules regarding cannabis testing within the military. As marijuana legalization sweeps the nation, more and more recruits seek out the benefits of cannabis, whether for recreational use, medical benefits, or both, especially in legal states. According to The New York Times, nearly 33% more recruits tested positive in 2022 than in 2020. At the time of reporting, medical marijuana is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., and adult-use cannabis is legal in 22 states and D.C.

Recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill that includes an amendment allowing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical cannabis for their patients in legal states. It will go into effect as part of the approved legislation that funds the VA for the 2024 Fiscal Year. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, passed via a voice vote in June. It will yield the same results a standalone bill refiled in the House seeks to obtain, with bipartisan backing by Representative Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, and Florida Republican Representative Brian Mast, who lost both legs while serving in the Army in Afghanistan. Blumenauer and Mast are the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

Gaetz’s proposed amendment follows other changes regarding the Federal government’s stance on cannabis use. In May, reports showed that over the past five years, the military gave 3,400 recruits who failed a drug test on their first day a “grace period to try again.” The Army waived over 3,300 recruits who failed a drug test or admitted past drug use between 2018 and 2022. Historically, the Army is considered the most relaxed (although describing the Army as “relaxed” feels like an oxymoron) compared to other military branches. The Navy traditionally has a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who fails their entry drug test. Still, even they recently started giving recruits another chance to take another drug test after 90 days if they failed the first one, as are the Air Force and the Marine Corps.

Now is a good time to point out that piss tests are basically just cannabis tests. For example, while both cocaine and heroin show up in urine for three to four days after use, cannabis lingers for roughly 30 days and sometimes even longer. So, unless one administers the drug screening shortly after taking anything other than cannabis (although remember, under Federal law, cocaine is only Schedule II, while cannabis is Schedule I), the infamous piss test only really screws over stoners, which seems rather contradictory and unfair, although in line with most conservative’s regressive attitudes about marijuana. 

However, considering recent bipartisan support for cannabis reform, even that could be changing. Gaetz, a man associated with the far-right, who once voted to give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize, wishes to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, is virulently against abortion rights, and once voiced support for Kyle Rittenhouse, is an unlikely stoner ally. However, he is generally pro-cannabis, once stating that the federal government has “lied to the American people for a generation” about the medical benefits of marijuana. 

Gaetz’s desire to end cannabis testing for military members is tied to his desire for America to have thriving armed forces. “Our military is facing a recruitment and retainment crisis unlike any other time in American history. I do not believe that prior use of cannabis should exclude Americans from enlisting in the armed forces. We should embrace them for stepping up to serve our country,” Gaetz said in a statement.

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