Ganja legal in Colorado but ... a positive test could cost your job

 DENVER (AP):

Medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but employers in the state can lawfully fire workers who test positive for the drug, even if it was used off duty, according to a court ruling yesterday.

The Colorado Court of Appeals found there is no employment protection for medical marijuana users in the state since the drug remains barred by the federal government.

The ruling concurs with court decisions in similar cases elsewhere and comes as businesses attempt to regulate pot use among employees in states where the drug is legal. Colorado and Washington state law both provide for recreational marijuana use. Several other states have legalised medical use. Police departments have been especially concerned since officers are sworn to uphold both state and federal laws.

The Colorado case involves Brandon Coats, 33, a telephone operator for Englewood, Colorado-based Dish Network LLC. Coats was paralysed in a car crash as a teenager and has been a medical marijuana patient in the state since 2009.

He was fired in 2010 for failing a company drug test, though his employer didn't claim he was ever impaired on the job.

Coats sued to get his job back, but a trial court dismissed his claim in 2011. The judge agreed with Dish Network that medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by a state law intended to protect cigarette smokers from being fired for legal behaviour off the clock. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than half of all states have such laws.