A Maryland Senate panel has approved a bill to protect firefighters and rescue workers from being penalized for using medical marijuana while off duty.
The Senate Finance Committee advanced the measure from Sen. Carl Jackson (D) in a 6-4 vote on Thursday, about a year after the full chamber passed an earlier version that ultimately stalled out in the House.
If SB 439 is enacted, state law would be amended to codify that firefighters and other rescue workers who are registered medical cannabis patients could not be penalized over their participation in the state-legal program or for testing positive for marijuana.
Employers could not “discipline, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against the fire and rescue public safety employee with respect to the employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” based solely on a positive screening for THC metabolites.
They also could not “limit, segregate, or classify its employees in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive the fire and rescue public safety employee of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the fire and rescue public safety employee’s status as an employee,” the bill text says.
However, employers could continue to set zero-tolerance policies for on-duty impairment from
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