Federal law is about to face off against Connecticut medical marijuana law. But it’s not the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that’s going to lead the fight.
Photo by Taylor Lauren Barker
Attorney Matthew Maddox of New Canaan
Here’s the story. Jeffrey Rigoletti was supposed to start work at an Amazon fulfillment center in Windsor, Connecticut on October 24, 2016, but according to his complaint filed in Hartford late last year, after Mr. Rigoletti attended orientation, Amazon had second thoughts.
Mr. Rigoletti alleges that he informed Amazon that he takes marijuana, in compliance with Connecticut law, for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He also alleges that he was turned away from the $14.50-per-hour job in violation of Connecticut State law that makes it illegal for employers to refuse to hire solely on the basis of an applicant receiving legally prescribed marijuana.
Amazon has moved to change venue to federal court. Once there, it’s almost certain that Amazon will rely upon the A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act) as at least part of its defense. The act says that it doesn’t apply to a prospective employee who uses illegal drugs. The ADA defines the “illegal use of drugs” as the use, possession or distribution of drugs in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.
The Controlled Substances Act lists marijuana as a controlled substance; in other words, our federal law says that the possession and distribution of marijuana is illegal.
Is Mr. Rigoletti a more reliable, productive employee when he takes his prescribed marijuana? Are other employees who take anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications or any other drugs more reliable, productive employees when they take their medication as prescribed?
I don’t know. I’m just a lawyer, but I’m guessing that the answer is usually “yes”.
There are a lot of things about the Rigoletti case that trouble me as a lawyer and as a resident of Connecticut. For right now, though, what troubles me most are these two issues: is marijuana a medicine or is it for recreation? If it’s both, then are we going to begin selling “recreational” amounts of Xanax, Klonopin, Percocet and Oxycodone?
The other nagging, dare I say, sinister shadow looming over this and similar discussions is this question: is the federal government going to reform the Controlled Substance Act to make marijuana legal or are we just waiting nervously for the day that federal law enforcement moves in to arrest and confiscate in states where legislatures have made medical and recreational marijuana legal?
We are entering the Marijuana Age. Twenty years from now or less, sociologists, clinicians and historians will refer to us as “Generation W” for weed; they’ll probably think of a more clever name.
In the meantime, the law’s going to have to “give” somewhere.
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Attorney Matthew Maddox has offices in New Canaan. His blog appears on his law firm website and is available by email.
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