While today's news out of California focused on Proposition 8, the California Chamber of Commerce weighed in on another proposition: 19 -- aka the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 -- which will be on the ballot in California in November.
The chamber said today that it opposes Prop. 19 for three main reasons.
1. Burden of Puff-Puff Proof
It will restrict employers from taking "adverse action" against an employee who tests positive for marijuana by forcing the employer to prove that the employee is "actually impaired" and can't do his or her job.
Translation: Employers would have to prove that workers are doing their jobs badly because of the weed they smoke all day long before they fire them for smoking weed all day long.
Take, for instance, the Denver Department of Safety employee who was impaired enough to get into a car accident while under the influence of his friend Mary Jane. In a slight twist, he claimed he was exempt from "adverse action" because he was under the influence of medical marijuana.
2. Stoned Safety Issues
The Chamber of Commerce adds that the workplace will get more dangerous because "disciplinary actions used to protect workplace safety" would be delayed and costs to companies would go up "due to increased litigation."
For example, consider Brock Hopkins, whose job was to feed the grizzly bears at a grizzly bear park in Montana. Hopkins decided to do his job high one morning and ended up getting mauled by grizzly bears. So he requested workers' compensation, but his employer said no. A Montana court said, actually, Mr. Hopkins is entitled to his workers' comp because "it is difficult for the court to conclude that the major contributing cause of the grizzly bear attack was anything other than the grizzly."
3. Bad Buzz for Government Business
As its final point, CalChamber said that Proposition 19 would "threaten" state and federal contracts and grants because employers couldn't enforce drug-free requirements anymore.
That idea was embraced by Robert Goodman, dean of the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, who turned down New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's request that Rutgers own and operate the state's official pot farm. Reason: Rutgers University might lose millions of dollars in federal grant money by getting into the wacky-'backy business.
Quick on their feet, proponents of Prop. 19 have countered by saying that the state's Legislative Analyst's Office has already said businesses can continue to enforce current workplace weed rules, according to The Associated Press. Sort of like they do with alcohol.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: AOL News
Author: Dana Chivvis
Contact: AOL News
Copyright: 2010 AOL News
Website: Why the Calif. Chamber of Commerce is Passing on Grass in the Workplace
The chamber said today that it opposes Prop. 19 for three main reasons.
1. Burden of Puff-Puff Proof
It will restrict employers from taking "adverse action" against an employee who tests positive for marijuana by forcing the employer to prove that the employee is "actually impaired" and can't do his or her job.
Translation: Employers would have to prove that workers are doing their jobs badly because of the weed they smoke all day long before they fire them for smoking weed all day long.
Take, for instance, the Denver Department of Safety employee who was impaired enough to get into a car accident while under the influence of his friend Mary Jane. In a slight twist, he claimed he was exempt from "adverse action" because he was under the influence of medical marijuana.
2. Stoned Safety Issues
The Chamber of Commerce adds that the workplace will get more dangerous because "disciplinary actions used to protect workplace safety" would be delayed and costs to companies would go up "due to increased litigation."
For example, consider Brock Hopkins, whose job was to feed the grizzly bears at a grizzly bear park in Montana. Hopkins decided to do his job high one morning and ended up getting mauled by grizzly bears. So he requested workers' compensation, but his employer said no. A Montana court said, actually, Mr. Hopkins is entitled to his workers' comp because "it is difficult for the court to conclude that the major contributing cause of the grizzly bear attack was anything other than the grizzly."
3. Bad Buzz for Government Business
As its final point, CalChamber said that Proposition 19 would "threaten" state and federal contracts and grants because employers couldn't enforce drug-free requirements anymore.
That idea was embraced by Robert Goodman, dean of the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, who turned down New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's request that Rutgers own and operate the state's official pot farm. Reason: Rutgers University might lose millions of dollars in federal grant money by getting into the wacky-'backy business.
Quick on their feet, proponents of Prop. 19 have countered by saying that the state's Legislative Analyst's Office has already said businesses can continue to enforce current workplace weed rules, according to The Associated Press. Sort of like they do with alcohol.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: AOL News
Author: Dana Chivvis
Contact: AOL News
Copyright: 2010 AOL News
Website: Why the Calif. Chamber of Commerce is Passing on Grass in the Workplace
