I did not support the legislation legalizing medical marijuana in Michigan. So, let's get that mea culpa out of the way. And it wasn't that I didn't believe marijuana could bring relief for all disorders and diseases. There were some instances where I knew it could, and others I thought were confusing.
But it's law now. And Wal*Mart has absolutely no business standing between Joe Casias and his doctor, any more than some scurrilous insurance company.
Joseph Casias was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. His doctor prescribed smoking marijuana as a treatment for the excruciating pain with which the disease racks his head and upper torso. Casias was a low level supervisor at Wal*Mart, dealing mostly with employees and less so with the public. His failing health probably limited his abilities, probably (I'm only imagining that).
Joseph (Casias) was discharged merely because he is a medical marijuana patient," says attorney Daniel Grow, "He never came to work under the influence of medical marijuana. He never asked for any accommodation from his employer. All he wanted to do was work and he was fired."
Joe is a husband and a father of two. He's supporting a family on a Wal*Mart wage in a state pummeled by forclosures, bankrupcies, and unemployment. And Wal*Mart thought it would be the right thing to do, firing Joe after he tested positive for marijuana following a return to work from an injury.
As I said, when the medical marijuana legislation came before the voters in Michigan, I voted no. There are applications, such as in Joe's case where the benefits are obvious, although I still don't understand why it can't be refined to a pill form instead of the brutish practice of inhaling harmful smoke. That having been said, there are other uses that I do not get. Now I'm not a doctor, I have an associate in mental health with a strong emphasis on drug and alcohol recovery and treatment, which gives me about as much expertise as a high school receptionist. But I am also entitled to an opinion, as a voter. And both of those things about me leaves me wondering, for example why someone with an already compromised immune system - as in the case of an HIV patient - would smoke a substance that contains a compound (Thc) that binds to anything containing fat, including the outer layer of white blood cells which are the building blocks of immunity.
That's as far as I will take my political differences on the matter for this particular day.
The bottom line is that tens of thousands of Michigan voters disagreed with me, and voted for the med marijuana law. So there is no legal ground whatsoever for Wal*Mart to treat this Michigander with the kind of hateful, self righteous disrespect that they have become famous for on a host of other cases that have appeared in the news.
For Wal*Mart's part, their explanation in a written statement which they'll release to anyone who asks rather than speak to a reporter on it, is that since there is no guideline as to how business should approach the safety of someone using marijuana, they are forced to defer to the safety of the workplace and stick to the Federal position that marijuana is a controlled substance and should not be legal.
This is where I stand firmly with my Kossack friends who are vehemently pro marijuana. It's law. Wal*Mart is behaving dispicably to a family which is already suffering. Joe Casias is being represented by the ACLU as well as a capable attorney.
"No patient should be forced to choose between adequate pain relief and gainful employment," Scott Michelman, a staff attorney with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project told CNN. "And no employer should be allowed to intrude upon private medical choices made by employees in consultation with their doctors."
And States Rights is on trial here. Does the State, which has the power to enact and enforce its own laws, also have the power to fine, and possibly demand reparations from a huge, souless corporation like Wal*Mart when it defies the law that the voters of the State have approved and demanded?
Government needs to push back on Corporate Earth whether it's federal, state or city government. All levels of government represent the people. Wal*Mart represents greed and the ability to make a profit using slave labor, materials that are harmful to the planet, and taking advantage of the poor by selling them crap made in countries that have little or no regulation when they could just as easily sell them quality and present themselves as a proudly American company.