Legalizing medical cannabis in Missouri is a major step forward for people with chronic pain and other covered medical conditions but there is still more work to do. Unfortunately the decades long war on drugs and specifically marijuana will be a major obstacle to overcome for those who want to use cannabis rather than prescription drugs for their health. Some Missouri politicians and businesses want to make it impossible for anyone in the state to use medical marijuana, if they want to keep their job.
Missouri Republican Senator David Sater of Cassville is one such politician. Missouri voters overwhelmingly voted to legalize medical marijuana in November 2018 and just 2 months later in January 2019 Sater sponsored Senate Bill 227. If passed this would mean that Missouri employers would not have to make accommodations for medical marijuana usage and give employers the right fire any employee that is using medical marijuana or use it as the basis when deciding not to hire a person.
“I don’t want someone who shows positive for marijuana involved in my business,” Sater, a former pharmacy owner said. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing that I had someone who was using, even for medicinal use. It would be a bad thing for my business if I had a pharmacy tech helping fill prescriptions for me who is high on marijuana and makes a mistake.”
Would it surprise Sater to know that you can use medical marijuana without getting high? There are many variations of the marijuana plant and some even contain almost no THC at all. Many medical marijuana users opt for strains that contain more CBD than THC.
Pharmaceutical mistakes cause over 1 million serious injuries or deaths in the US every year. Why hasn’t Sater introduced any bills to address this problem?
When asked about including opioids in this bill, Sater said he focus was only on medical marijuana because it is still considered illegal by the federal government.
Attitudes like Sater’s are the reason more education is needed about cannabis for medical use.
Currently only Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have “statutes that explicitly prohibit employment discrimination against medical marijuana users.”
Missouri Senate Bill 227 is now waiting on a vote in the Senate Small Business and Industry Committee.