Concern for licensed health care worker to have a medical card?

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Bayla
Bayla Member Posts: 4
edited August 2021 in Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment

I'm interested in medical cannabis, but worried about being on an official government registry. I am a licensed health care worker. I would use it while I'm recovering, off of work. Has this come back to bite anyone with a state licensed career?! Could this be used against me in some way? Thanks

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2021

    Bayla,

    My state is now legal for both medical and recreational. However, when we were just medical, I did get my medical card. The social worker at my medical facility helped me navigate the process and at no time was holding any type of professional license or credential considered an obstacle, I am a credentialed teacher, mandatory reporter etc. I am certain that there is no government registry that is cross checking medical cannabis patients against state issued professional credentials . I don't know what state you're in but I really don't think you have anything to be concerned about, unless your state specifically lists licensed professions that are NOT eligible for medical cannabis cards. Take care and check out this thread:

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/79/topics/874792?page=3#idx_85

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited August 2021

    bayla - are you subject to random drug tests as a condition of your employment? If there is a problem/error with a patient does that trigger drug testing? What are the regulations from the organization (state/local/etc.) that pertains to your licensing? The company I worked for (transfusion services) had, and still has, random testing. They would also test if there was patient error, and still has a zero tolerance policy for 100% of their employees - and there are thousands - even though my state is legal for medical card holders.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2021

    SpecialK,

    Does that mean certain professionals in your state cannot get medical cards even if they qualify? Even a one time use of cannabis (THC component) can be detectable for about 48 hours after use. For moderate to heavy users it can even be detected for up to 30 days. So you can test positive for cannabis long after its effects are gone.

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited August 2021

    exbrnxgrl - I believe anyone can get a card regardless of the type of employment, but if you are found impaired - even if you have a card - or if you test positive on a random or initial screen for employment, you can lose your license. It is my impression that waters are muddy due to the way the legislation was written, because what constitutes impaired? Obviously, nobody wants a health care worker that is impaired, but the way the law is written there is no apparent guidance regarding what that specifically means for licensed health care workers. For the moment, and until the legislation is refined with more nuance, a positive test is enough to fire you, and potentially cost you your license.

    As a side note, purchasing stock in companies that run dispensaries can yield excellent profits, and we were considering purchasing. My DH holds a top secret clearance and works for the federal government in the military sector - he is retired from active duty and is a federal civil servant - and has been warned against holding any quantity of this type of stock as it may impact his clearance.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2021

    Well, this is all absurd IMO! You know, cannabis has only been a schedule I drug for about 70 years. How it came to reside in the same category as heroin is a long and interesting story. Cocaine, BTW, is not a schedule I drug 🤷🏻♀️. I hope that all of this can be resolved if and when federal laws are changed. The “impaired” part is almost funny. You can test positive for cannabis, even a single use, for for up to 48 hours afterwards but the psychoactive effects of cannabis don’t last longer than a few hours.

    When rec use started in CA, my school district sent a letter to all employees to remind them that although it was now legal, one should not come to work while stoned. Duh! They never mentioned something like this with respect to alcohol and if you are irresponsible enough to come to work at a school under the influence of any substance then you should lose your job!

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited August 2021

    I think there was a nurse here in FloriDuh who had a card. Was subject to random tests. Failed, was fired. Appealed, lost again.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2021

    This has got me thinking about the whole issue and as I suspected, state laws differ in this area as it does with most aspects of legal cannabis. The link speaks to CA law so your best bet is to check the laws in your state.

    https://www.unlocklegal.com/blog/can-i-lose-my-professional-license-for-using-marijuana-in-california/

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited August 2021

    I think that in regards to health care workers directly responsible for patient care and consequence, there is no clear way to tell if your test is positive from several days ago, or an hour ago, and therein lies the problem. I feel like Florida is relatively late to the legalization legislation for medical use and is still working out some things, but for the moment the situation is as spookiesmom describes.

    Edited to add - recreational use is still illegal here, only medical use is ok.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2021

    specialK,

    You are absolutely correct. How long cannabis and more importantly THC remains detectable in your system correlates to how often you indulge. I use cannabis every evening to help me eat and for joint pain relief. I have an extremely high THC tolerance and use high THC products. However, the “impairment” lasts only about 2 hours. My urine may be chock full of THC but I am certainly not impaired save for those few evening hours. My biggest wish for federal legalization is that it would allow large scale research on its potential benefits as well as coming up with more standardized dosing.

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited August 2021

    It would be helpful also to have a more sensitized testing process, rather than a pos/neg result. I believe most of the testing platforms in use have a threshold for positivity and that is the cutoff. If someone is legally consuming in their off time for medical purposes and they are not impaired at work it seems harsh that they would lose their job and/or license. If you likened it to a hangover I can't recall hearing of anyone having lost their job over one.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2021

    Not only that, but cannabis doesn’t cause a hangover!

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited August 2021

    Yay for that!

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