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The Medical Cannabis Worker Protections Act, AB 2069 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (Oakland), would treat medical cannabis in the same way that current law treats prescription opiates and other drugs, by according it “reasonable accommodation” under the state Fair Employment and Housing Act.
The bill exempts employers who are subject to federal regulations, such as the transportation industry, and further disallows any impairment on the job during hours of employment.
Under present FEHA law, employees who use opiates and other prescription drugs – but not medical cannabis – may ask to be excused from positive drug tests if their employer determines that such use doesn’t impair workplace safety or the ability to do their job.
As a result, many workers are allowed to use RX opiates, tranquilizers, sleeping aids and other drugs, but are not free to use medical cannabis, even though it is safer, less addictive and often more effective.
AB 2069 is cosponsored by California NORML, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), all of whom have heard innumerable complaints from workers who have been fired or denied jobs due to medical cannabis use despite an excellent employment record.
Other supporters include AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), CELA (California Employment Lawyers Association), BALIF (Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom), CCBA (The California Conference of Bar Assns.), the Hispanic and Black chambers of commerce, CMG Caliva, Supernova Woman, Americans for Safe Access, and the Drug Policy Alliance.
In presenting the bill, Bonta noted that twelve other states already have laws protecting workers’ rights to medical cannabis.
“California is often on the cutting edge. Here we’re not,” he remarked. AB 2069 would reverse a California Supreme Court ruling, Ross v RagingWire, which determined that Prop 215 does not protect employment rights. In 2008, the legislature passed a bill by then-Assemblymember Mark Leno to reverse the decision, but it was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger.
Testifying in favor of AB 2069, labor attorney Alan Crowley noted that FEHA’s “reasonable accommodation” provisions give employers wide latitude to disallow drug use that would impair workplace safety. Workers are obliged to notify their employers of their drug use beforehand in order to qualify for “reasonable accommodation,” and even then employers can decide that such use makes them unfit for the job.
Veterans' advocate and medical cannabis patient Ryan Miller testified about how he had been locked into a low-level blue collar job because of drug testing after he returned home from military service, and urged the committee to pass AB 2069 “if it is serious about economic empowerment of vets.”
Opponents of the bill were led by the Chamber of Commerce and other employers, who worried about exposure to liability and workplace safety. The chamber thanked Bonta for responding with amendments improving the bill, but remained in opposition to the present version. The chamber was joined in opposition by the California Building and Construction Trades Council, which asked for their industry to be exempted from the bill on account of safety concerns.
Bonta promised to keep working with the Chamber and construction trades to iron out problems in the bill if it passed out of committee.
Also testifying against AB 2069 was a representative from Quest Diagnostics, a leading drug testing firm, who mendaciously claimed that medical marijuana is “addictive,” that it shouldn’t be equated with opiates, and that its use caused a noticeable increase in workplace injuries.
A recent exhaustive report by the National Academy of Sciences found no good evidence that cannabis use in general is a cause of occupational injuries – let alone the use of cannabis specifically for medical purposes. The 15 safest states with fewest workplace fatalities (including California at #5), have legal medical marijuana; 13 of the bottom 15 prohibit it.
Opponents focused on the lack of a definitive test for cannabis impairment. Bonta noted that no such tests exist for opiates or other legal drugs, with the sole exception of alcohol.
Many employers currently rely on urine tests, which don’t relate to impairment because they don’t measure marijuana’s active component THC, but rather inactive urine metabolites that reside in the system for days and weeks.
Advocates say that employers would be better served by computer-based performance tests that can detect actual impairment from drugs or other causes. Alternatively, as part of the “reasonable accommodation” process, they recommend blood or oral fluid tests, which detect recent active THC for a few hours after use, making them a good indicator of whether workers have used on the job, which is forbidden by AB 2069.
Committee members voiced concerns about the bill before voting to approve it on the recommendation of Committee Chair Tony Thurmond (Richmond) with the understanding that Bonta would continue to work with opponents. Thurmond admitted "some discomfort over the safety issue,” but said it "must be balanced with accommodation.”
“This not a simple issue,” commented Assemblymember Ash Kalra (San Jose), “But does cannabis have medical benefits? It does.” “
This is not black and white, it’s gray,” agreed Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (Sacramento), who asked for more information about states with similar laws.
Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (San Diego) said she “agreed with both sides,” but would like to hear more from the construction trade unions.
Assemblymember Melissa Melendez (Lake Elsinore) said she couldn’t vote one way or another, because the bill “wasn’t cooked yet.”
Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (L.A.), noted that cannabis regulation had taken a long time to develop and that he wanted the bill “fully baked,” provoking laughs in the room.
The final committee vote was 5-1-1, with Republican vice-chair Heath Flora (Modesto) the only “No” vote and Melendez abstaining.
AB 2069 next heads to the Assembly floor, where it can be further amended and voted on.
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The funding would be focused on screening of opioid and methamphetamine addiction when patients see their doctors.
The funding will allow for all Medi-Cal patients to receive screening from their providers, which would ask them about any potential drug use. This results-driven practice is not currently deployed in California for the state’s more than 7 million Medi-Cal patients, 21 and older.
If this funding is secured, when a patient goes to their doctor for a regular visit, they would receive a questionnaire asking if they use any opioid prescriptions or illicit drugs to help them sleep, relax, calm down, feel better or lose weight. Their answers could lead to additional drug screening, counseling and substance abuse treatment.
“The opioid crisis has impacted communities big and small all across our country, and rural California has been hit especially hard,” said McGuire. “We know that early intervention and screening is a powerful tool for Californians to get the help they need to combat their addiction. We’re fighting to secure $2.58 million in state funds, which will be matched with more than two times that amount in federal dollars – $5.82 million – to expand screening and counseling for overuse of opioids and other drugs like heroin and methamphetamine, to get people the help they need as early as possible.”
McGuire has officially requested that the budget committee advance an allocation from the state’s general fund to cover the costs of this data-driven screening program. This would include allocating $8.4 million ($2.58 million from the state general fund/$5.82 million in matching dollars from the federal financial participation).
The screening dollars, if secured, would be invested with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to expand the Medi-Cal benefit for Alcohol Misuse, Screening and Counseling (AMSC) to include screening for overuse of opioids and other illicit drugs.
Routine screenings for excessive alcohol use in California, followed by brief intervention or counseling and referral to treatment has helped countless Californians get the help they need to combat their addiction.
The program, Screening Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT), has been in place in emergency rooms, public hospitals and federally qualified health centers across California for 15 years focused solely on alcohol. Now, Sen. McGuire wants to take this same results driven process and apply it to opioid use and methamphetamine.
“Expanding screening to detect use of opioids and other drugs is an important step in combating our current crisis and to save lives. We need to build on the state’s ongoing commitment to high-quality drug treatment resources for all Californians by allocating $8.4 million to implement drug screening and referrals for all ages,” Senator McGuire stated in the letter.
This request is supported by the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California.
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- Written by: California Department of Public Health
The campaign warns parents and concerned adults about the increasing availability of flavored tobacco products targeted to teens. The campaign also highlights how easy it is for kids to purchase flavored tobacco products online.
“Flavors disguise the harshness of tobacco and make smoking seem harmless, when we know it’s not,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith. “Innocent sounding e-cigarette flavors like Cherry Crush and Cotton Candy could lead to a lifetime of nicotine addiction.”
More than 80 percent of youth who have tried tobacco products started with a flavored product – there are more than 15,500 e-cigarette flavors on the market.
Also increasing in popularity among teenagers are new e-cigarette devices called “pod mods.” One in particular, JUUL, looks like a flash drive. It is easily hidden from parents and teachers because of its deceptive design. Each JUUL cartridge contains the same amount of nicotine as an entire pack of traditional cigarettes.
“We encourage parents to talk to their kids about the significant risks of nicotine addiction and tobacco use – which can impact brain development and cause asthma and respiratory disease,” said Dr. Smith. “There’s simply no safe level of tobacco consumption, and it is far too easy for teens to get interested and hooked due to the tobacco industry’s deceptive tactics.”
E-cigarettes are the most common tobacco product used by youth in the U.S. In 2016, 13.6 percent of California high school students reported using tobacco products, and more than half (8.6 percent) reporting using e-cigarettes, including “pod mods.” Research has shown minors can successfully buy e-cigarette products online 94 percent of the time.
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- Written by: American Society of Addiction Medicine
The American Society of Addiction Medicine, or ASAM, hosts the week alongside its partners.
The United States is in the midst of an addiction epidemic. Nearly 20.5 million Americans suffer from a substance use disorder, yet only one in 10 people with a substance use disorder receive treatment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 64,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in 2016, and more than 88,000 people die each year from alcohol-related use in the US.
“We must increase patient’s access to evidence-based treatments by decreasing the stigma surrounding the disease and recognizing addiction as the disease it is; while growing a qualified addiction medicine workforce to provide patients a continuum of care,” the organization said in a statement.
Despite the growing epidemic, progress is being made.
Since 2017, the American Board of Preventive Medicine, or ABPM, started offering physicians, who are certified by a Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties, the opportunity to become board-certified in Addiction Medicine.
In 2017 more than 1,200 physicians became board-certified in Addiction Medicine through the ABPM.
ASAM collaborated with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and American Academy of Physician Assistants to train more than 5,000 nurse practitioners and physician assistants to treat opioid use disorder through a waiver qualifying course.
“Raising awareness that addiction is a chronic brain disease, and not a moral failure, and qualifying more clinicians to treat addiction is vital to increasing patients’ access to treatment.” said Kelly Clark, MD, MBA, DFASAM, president of ASAM. “National Addiction Treatment Week supports ASAM’s dedication to increasing access and improving the quality of addiction treatment, and helping physicians treat addiction and save lives.”
Join the association for National Addiction Treatment Week with events focused on research-verified, evidence-based addiction medicine including webinars informing physicians and medical students about the pathways to addiction medicine certification. Help them treat addition and save lives, by getting involved and raising awareness.
Learn more by visiting www.TreatAddictionSaveLives.org.
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