A new Maryland law that took effect this week will protect firefighters and rescue workers from being penalized over their lawful use of medical marijuana off the job.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) gave final approval to the measure in April after it cleared the Senate and House of Delegates, and it officially became operative on Thursday.
The new policy, which was sponsored by Sen. Carl Jackson (D), amends the state’s medical marijuana law by stipulating that firefighters, emergency medical technicians, cardiac rescue technicians and paramedics employed by the state or local governments will not face employment discrimination or retaliation for testing positive for cannabis metabolites if they’re a registered patient.
As of October 1, employers cannot “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” if they test positive while holding a medical cannabis registration.
Further, employers cannot “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.”
Nothing in the legislation prohibits
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