This guy got a bit of a raw deal. I wish him all the best luck getting his job back (and maybe even getting the law changed!) Medical Cannabis User Challenges Urine-Test Regime for Workers. (news – 2023) Medical Cannabis User Challenges Urine-Test Regime for Workers t wasn’t supposed to happen in Vermont—a bastion of green social-libertarianism that became the first state to legalize cannabis by vote of the legislature in 2018, and which has had a medical marijuana program in place since 2004. But on January 9, Ivo Skoric from the town of Rutland was dismissed from his job at the local transportation district for testing positive for cannabis—despite the fact that he’s a registered medical user. And despite the fact that his job was to clean the buses, not to drive them. “My job is in the garage,” Skoric tells Cannabis Now. “Bus maintenance. I clean them, wash them, fuel them, park them for tomorrow.” Parking within the terminal yard, in the wee hours of the morning with nobody else in sight, was the extent of Skoric’s time behind the wheel. Nonetheless, the Marble Valley Regional Transit District was obliged to let him go after he failed a urine test mandated by the federal Department of Transportation. Fighting the Bureaucracy An immigrant from Croatia, Skoric fled his native land just ahead of the wars that rocked ex-Yugoslavia in the 1990s. He settled in Vermont partially because of his love of the outdoors—spending time hiking, rock climbing and snowboarding. But osteoarthritic injuries contribute to Skoric’s chronic pain that is relieved by cannabis. He’s been enrolled in the state medical marijuana program for some 10 years. And he pledges to rouse every level of state and federal power in defense of his right to medicate and still keep his job. First, Skoric wrote US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, urging that the text of the relevant DoT regulations “needs to change.” The relevant text of DoT Rule 49 reads: “There can be a legitimate medical explanation only with respect to a substance that has a legitimate medical use. Use of a drug of abuse (e.g., heroin, PCP, marijuana) or any other substance…that cannot be viewed as having a legitimate medical use can never be the basis for a legitimate medical explanation, even if the substance is obtained legally in a foreign country.” In Skoric’s letter to Buttigieg, he states the following: “I obtain the ‘substance’ legally in…my state, and I find offensive the contentious statement that it is a ‘drug of abuse’ and that it ‘cannot be viewed as having a legitimate medical use.’ I believe it is nonsense rooted in racist prejudice and decades of political demonization with no basis in science… Skoric is now fighting to get his unemployment claim recognized, but he says he won’t be content with that. He wants his job back—and the DoT regulations to be brought into conformity with his rights under state law. (snipped, long but worth reading) Granny
DOT isnt state operations, it is the transportation board for the whole united states, the federal government doest recognise it as legal . you should pick up a transportaion handbook if you think this is crazy, rules out your mind to adhere to for a commerical license , even him working in a shop he falls under those guidline, there is some mighty fine herb out there and some can have your mind in alaska when your in georgia just saying, it is also a fair rule book, would you really depend on someone that smoke out and hit the road with 80 thousand pounds of weapon, do you really know how many folks just do break checks in front of a 80k truck moving down the road for a insurance scam. try a sleep over at a truck stop and watch the lights of day disappear and watch what happens. they got those rules in line for them folk that enjoying making money and will eight ball for days to earn it, i think the fella gonna have a hard battle ahead of him for sure. not only did he lose his job , but coming up hot will also follow that record from here on out . some companies after a wreck , your fault or not, piss test you for insurance purpose DOT will piss test you in wreck on the spot
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who THE USDOT IS FEDERAL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> His MMJ Card means nothing................ he was operating a motor vehicle It could of been a gasoline powered bar stool. You can still hurt other people....... Its really a no brainer, having someone stoned operating anything even a motorized floor sweeper and hurt them self's or anyone else is guarantied some kind of responsibility on the employer. There is no way to get around this responsibility of any employer if they have employees operating anything. I worked decades in mining, pulling down great wages,, the draw back was random piss tests. For me that was the cost of for me to be good provider for my wife and children .
Gas powered bar stools already have speed limiters and breathalyzers on there to measure the amount of inebriation
Now they are electric and you got to wear a helmet. Only gas powered bar stool I was around, was a home made and a accident waiting happen.
yeah a bunch of drunks on gas powered bar stools running over cannabis eaters on the streets is not a good scene at all
Thank you for posting this! This is about me, so I am of course a little biased. I want to respond to some of the other comments on this thread: 1) if someone uses something as a medicine, there is no option to just stop, because of a monetary incentive - and one should be able to provide for their family regardless of using cannabis 2) there are so many other psychoactive substances prescribed by physicians to people, far more impairing than cannabis, and no one cares 3) people ski and snowboard high - CDC is plainly wrong about cannabis impairing motor skills - a lot of people drive high and even the cops don't care - studies are lacking 4) most of the anti-weed legislation and public sentiment is based solely on prejudice, racism, classism... scientific evidence is non-existent 5) 38/50 States have medical cannabis on their books - in a functioning federation that would be a federal law, yet the entrenched drug warriors in DC still stubbornly maintain it "has no medical use" 6) this is a discrepancy that needs to be solved - and the unfairness of the urine test is startling because cannabis is detectable in urine long after use, so people can't smoke off work like they can drink off work if they work in jobs that test - and as we have more and more state with legal recreational adult cannabis use, having more and more corporations that drug test is rendering a large segment of the population literally unemployable: that is unsustainable for the economy 7) yes, the federal court said that the CSA lords over the ADA and that I don't have a federal case, and that this is a Vermont mess 8) my case is in Vermont Supreme Court now, and I have supporting briefs by ACLU-VT and Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform and Disability Rights Reform 9) while I did not get my job back, the incompetent FMCSA actually failed to register my failed random drug test (our federal government is such a joke), and I was approved for SSDI...
Welcome to GC! The drug tests are a real JOKE! The fact that the cannabis metabolites stick around in our fat makes it impossible to determine how long ago you smoked that last joint! Look at this fellow's case! Prolonged detection of cannabis in urine of a consumer in a Forensic hospital, Victoria, Australia, up to 102 days of abstinence - A case report. (Australia) (full – 2023) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773021222000815 Unfortunately, some recreational users don't realize how potent of a medicine cannabis can be! For me, it "merely" PREVENTS my migraines from a childhood head trauma (another kid tried to murder me with a hammer - I still have dents in my skull from the attack). A home-made balm eases the arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands and I inherited a slight case of bi-polar from my Mom. Cannabis calms me when I'm "mildly manic", or lifts my spirits when I'm "down in the dumps" depressed! But all that many folks see is just the "getting high" part! As for driving "high"- the problems arise mainly with beginners who have not learned how to navigate under the influence of cannabis. Among the experienced users, the story is quite different! See “Assessing the Impact of Marijuana Decriminalization on a Vehicle Accident Experience” (2023), a statistical study looking at accident rates in Canada and the US" (2023), https://www.casact.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Marijuana-Decriminalization_Report.pdf a statistical study looking at accident rates in Canada and the US, where “The tests for the decriminalization effect on fatalities failed to detect a statistically significant change,” the report says about its findings for the U.S. Similarly, it states that, “The analysis showed no statistically significant changes in the average cost per claim and claim frequency after marijuana legalization in Canada.” "After controlling for confounding factors, evidence suggests that recreational cannabis legalization led to fewer fatal and serious injury collisions.” From “Collisions and cannabis: Measuring the effect of recreational marijuana legalization on traffic crashes in Washington State”. (2023) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15389588.2023.2220853 “Researchers identified no significant changes in trends in fatal motor vehicle crashes following the enactment of adult-use marijuana laws, and they reported a decrease in fatal traffic accidents following the passage of statewide medical cannabis access laws.” From Analysis: Changes in Marijuana Laws Not Associated with Increased Traffic Fatalities Analysis: Changes in Marijuana Laws Not Associated with Increased Traffic Fatalities and based on the study “State Marijuana Laws and Traffic Fatalities” file:///C:/Users/GSC/Downloads/30970-state-marijuana-laws-and-traffic-fatalities.pdf You may find other studies that might help, here- New 2023 GRANNY'S MMJ LIST New 2023 GRANNY'S MMJ LIST Good luck, hon! Granny
Check my site http://raccoon.im What CDC says on its site is just plain wrong: that cannabis impairs motoric ability. And I am not talking about simple things like driving: I know people who are capable of executing complex tricks on snowboards and skis high. And the scientific research is simply lacking. How is that possible if it is supposed to make us clumsy, wobbly, and couch-bound? They don't want to research that, because it doesn't fit their narrative. And the media are the worst. They are totally in the drug war lobby's pocket. Check this out: Our local Vermont newspapers are now becoming rags for promoting the perpetual federal war on drugs. For the occasion of 4/20 last year both Mountain Times and Rutland Herald published an identical letter to the editor, basically an anti-cannabis rant, by some Jody Boulay, a non-local, Florida-based person, according to Linkedin. identified as a community outreach coordinator at "addicted.org" - an NGO with the "mission and philosophy to educate people about the danger of drugs". This is pure mass propaganda and indoctrination. I think we should expect better from the local newspapers. More loyalty to local causes. Instead of devoting precious space to form letters from out of state think-tanks... Boulay: 4/20 influence on youth Are 4/20 events a bad influence on youth? - The Mountain Times (the same rant was strategically sent to other states as well – here is a little modified Californian example: Guest column: 4/20 celebrations and the influence on young people) Her letter basically went to all sorts of small town newspapers in every state and Canadian province! And it got published! Why? Who buys that BS? What makes that letter worth publishing? We need an NGO with the mission and philosophy to educate people about the benefits of drugs – just look at well documented druggies Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, both octogenarians, yet way more vital than our presidential candidates, who presumably never got high.
