Abstract
Employment At-Will and Medical Marijuana use are two issues merging together in today’s society as state laws are becoming more reciprocal to medical marijuana users. Research has found that many users find marijuana to be a great therapeutic alternative when traditional therapeutic drugs start to become ineffective. The issue of employers having the legal right to fire employees who are registered medical marijuana users when testing positive during drug test makes employees feel helpless. This paper explores the legal, ethical, and social responsibilities that companies have in today’s society in regard to the use of medical marijuana. At Will Employment and Medical Marijuana:
Analyses based on Legal, Ethical and Social Responsibility
There is controversy over the rising issue of employment at-will and medical marijuana off company property. There are 22 states that allow the use of medical marijuana, but these states’ medical marijuana laws do not explicitly provide protection status to patients. Should this be legal and is it worth it for the organization to continue this practice? This paper will discuss the issue of “zero-tolerance” drug policies in organizations located in states that allow the legal use of medical marijuana, and the issues that arise will be analyzed and broken down into the “3 value” analysis of the law, ethics, and social responsibility.
According to a report done by CNN there is a case concerning a Michigan man named Joseph Casias, 29, who was fired from his job at Wal-Mart after failing a drug test. Joseph has a rare form of brain cancer that causes him daily pain. His doctor prescribed him medical marijuana, which is legal in Michigan. In fact, medical marijuana is legal in 22 states to date. It is just as unfortunate that the law only protects against criminal penalties and not “sanctions imposed by employers. So