don't fire the pot-smoking manager!

[PepperElf]

http://www.planetfeedback.com/index....6#anchor278966

Figured it might be too controversial for CS

Letter writer is complaining that the manager from the apartment complex was fired because he smoked "medicinal" marijuana, and that all of the residents want him to stay.



I am somewhat skeptical.

1) If his smoking (even if legal) was so discrete - how did they know about it?
2) How do they know his pot IS legal.
3) Even if his bosses liked how he worked, he may have broken rules (or laws) that they can't ignore.


and i'll be honest... since everyone there apparently knows he smokes pot "discretely", there may be a chance that residents or others have come up to him to borrow some.

plus his job may involve using machinery so, combining that with pot can be kinda deadly (and illegal in some situations)

[Greenday]

Considering medicinal weed is illegal in pretty much every state, I highly doubt it was "legal" weed, meaning he was committing a felony, which means they are full within their rights to fire the guy.

[fireheart17]

For some reason I thought the title was going to be "don't fire the pot smoking manager, fire the decent hard-working guy."

I can't really comment 100% on this from a legal standpoint, since I think marijuana laws in the US/Canada/UK are all different to Australian laws (I think the TGA...basically the Aussie version of the FDA...are a bit stricter)

From a non-legal standpoint though, if the guy's abusing his weed, then yeah, I think I can see why he would be fired.

[Nyoibo]

For some reason I thought the title was going to be "don't fire the pot smoking manager, fire the decent hard-working guy."

I can't really comment 100% on this from a legal standpoint, since I think marijuana laws in the US/Canada/UK are all different to Australian laws (I think the TGA...basically the Aussie version of the FDA...are a bit stricter)

From a non-legal standpoint though, if the guy's abusing his weed, then yeah, I think I can see why he would be fired.

Too much CS.

Marijuana is illegal in Australia, no matter what.

[PepperElf]

yeah it's legal in some states like california where you can get it for "medicinal" purposes, usually for pain.


but i've also heard that the illegal dealers do have connections within the legal market (etc)

[XiaoTortuga]

From my understanding of CA law on the issue, if an employer has a no marijuana rule you have to abide by it, medicinal or not. Some court in CA ruled that it being medical makes no difference and offers you no job protection.

A lot of illegal drug markets have a connection to legal drug markets and really has no baring on the situation.

In my opinion, being a pot smoker does not = bad whatever. But whether the employee was good or not has nothing to do with what company policy is. You take a job be aware of the rules and be prepared to get fired if you break them. If the rules are unreasonable to you, don't take the job.

[linguist]

From my understanding of CA law on the issue, if an employer has a no marijuana rule you have to abide by it, medicinal or not. Some court in CA ruled that it being medical makes no difference and offers you no job protection.

this is really the case with any job anywhere, as far as i've seen. i may have a valid, legal prescription for vicodin, but if i show up to work under the influence i can still be fired.

[elsporko]

If the guy does his job then he shouldn't be fired for smoking weed. All drugs should be legal anyways. If I want to do something to myself I should be able to do it no matter what prudes think about it.

[PepperElf]

even if it was legal there's still important issues... even legal issues.

it's not always about people being "prudes"
but rather people thinking about the consequences

such as how good of a job does someone do if they're stoned. how about if he was drinking booze all day at work?

does he use machinery? does he have to drive one of those buggies around to the apartments?

the residents might like him but...
if he cannot legally perform any of his job duties due to an altered state of mind then he can't really do his job.

i.e. can't legally drive if he's stoned - nothing prudish about that. same as drunk driving.

[Ghel]

All drugs should be legal anyways.

Really? All drugs? In any situation? At work? You already said you agree with that one? How about while driving? While caring for children? While cooking? Practicing medicine?

The individual using drugs isn't the only one affected by it. That person's family, coworkers, even random strangers that the drug user interacts with can be negatively affected.

[Nyoibo]

Really? All drugs? In any situation?

Who ever said that?

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Who ever said that?

elsporko, of course!

I'm willing to assume that he meant with the usual caveats and addendums...

[Nyoibo]

He never said in any situation.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

He never said in any situation.

Exactly. There's plenty of situations in which the consumption of salty snacks or sugary drinks are heavily inadvisable, much less booze and speed. I doubt elsporko is quite as brash as to assert otherwise (though I've been wrong in the past)

[DrFaroohk]

Reminds me of a commercial I heard that was anti-medical pot. There was this lady talking about how she didn't want various professionals (electricians, plumbers, doctors, even school bus drivers) being stoned while doing their jobs.

Smoking pot at home (legally or illegally) =/= being stoned at work. I don't know where some of these people are getting their info, but even though weed is in your system for about 30 days or so, it doesn't mean you're stoned for 30 days.