New legislation introduced in Florida seeks to protect public workers who use medical marijuana legally, preventing them from facing discrimination in government employment. The bill, HB 83, was introduced on Friday by Rep. Mitch Rosenwald (D) and would make it illegal for public employers to take actions such as firing, refusing to hire, or demoting employees solely based on their legal use of medical marijuana.
The bill is designed to strike a balance between protecting employees’ rights to use cannabis for medical purposes while also ensuring that workplace performance is not impaired. “A public employer may consider an employee’s ability to perform his or her job duties or responsibilities to be impaired if the employee displays specific, articulable symptoms while working which adversely affect the performance of his or her duties or responsibilities,” the legislation states.
This proposal, however, does not protect employees from disciplinary action if they are found to be impaired at work. Agencies can still take action if an employee is under the influence of cannabis while on duty. Law enforcement agencies may also continue to restrict off-duty medical marijuana use by officers, according to the bill.
The legislation is in response to the firing of Velez Ortiz, a Florida Department of Corrections worker who was dismissed after testing positive for THC in 2021. Ortiz, who had a doctor’s recommendation for cannabis use to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sued over his termination, but the Florida state appeals court upheld his firing. The case gained attention as it highlighted the challenges of medical marijuana use and employment rights in the state.
Another court ruling earlier this year saw a paramedic in Florida win a case against a county fire department. The paramedic, who had tested positive for cannabis in 2019, was suspended despite having a valid medical marijuana card. The judge ruled that the county could not discriminate against employees who have medical marijuana prescriptions and must offer reasonable accommodations. The decision emphasized that employers are required to make accommodations for workers using cannabis away from the workplace.
While HB 83 would have clarified that medical marijuana users could take it off-duty, it would likely not have prevented the termination of Ortiz, whose position involved carrying a firearm while on duty.
As medical marijuana laws continue to evolve in Florida, the new bill is an important step toward protecting employees’ rights while maintaining workplace safety.
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