DENVER — Marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it.
Now, the state’s highest court is considering whether workers’ off-duty use of medical marijuana is protected under state law.
Colorado’s Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case involving Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical marijuana patient who was fired by the Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010.
Coats said he never got high at work. But marijuana’s intoxicating chemical, THC, can stay in the system for weeks.
Coats says his marijuana smoking is allowed under a little-known state law intended to protect employees from being fired for legal activities off the clock. But the company argues that because the drug remains illegal at the federal level, medical marijuana isn’t covered by the state law.
The case could have big implications for marijuana smokers in the first state to legalize recreational sales. The court’s decision could also affect how companies treat employees who use it recreationally.
Tuesday’s arguments highlighted the clash between state laws and employers’ drug-free policies that will not tolerate it.
‘‘This case need not be an endorsement or an indictment of medical marijuana’’ but a chance to set standards for employee conduct, Dish attorney Meghan Martinez told the justices, who could rule in the coming weeks or months.
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My advice to you is to pass on the joint.
Of course, being a drunk is worthy of reverence:
"Marijuana industry makes political donations" by Kristen Wyatt | Associated Press September 30, 2014
DENVER — The entrepreneurs of the young US marijuana industry are taking another step into the mainstream, becoming political donors who use some of their profits to support cannabis-friendly candidates and ballot questions that could bring legal marijuana to more states.
Now legali$ation is really starting to get in my eye.
The political activity includes swanky fund-raisers at Four Seasons hotels and art auctions at law firms. And members of Congress who once politely returned the industry’s contribution checks are now keeping them.
‘‘We’re developing an industry here from the ground up. If we don’t contribute politically and get out there with the candidates, we can’t help shape what happens,’’ said Patrick McManamon, head of Cleveland-based Cannasure Insurance Services, which offers insurance to marijuana growers and dispensaries.
Medical marijuana businesses have been giving to candidates since the late 1990s. With the arrival of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington, the industry and its political influence are expanding rapidly.
Marijuana is now legal for medical or recreational purposes in 23 states and Washington, D.C. More marijuana measures will be on the November ballot in Oregon, Florida, Alaska, and the nation’s capital, so many contributions are being funneled into those campaigns and the candidates who support them.
Compared with the donations of other industries or advocacy groups, the political spending by marijuana businesses is modest. But, said Tripp Keber, head of Denver-based Dixie Elixirs & Edibles, which makes marijuana-infused soda, food, and lotion, ‘‘the word is out that the marijuana industry has money to give.’’
In Washington state, the industry’s contributions are channeled into reforms that include reducing the tax rate on marijuana and kicking some of the revenue back to cities and counties to encourage more communities to allow dispensaries, said dispensary owner John Davis, who also serves as director of the Coalition for Cannabis Standards and Ethics.
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"Colorado’s John Hickenlooper faces tough test in reelection bid" by Ivan Moreno | Associated Press October 07, 2014
DENVER — Governor John Hickenlooper is facing the toughest reelection fight of a charmed political career.
The two-time Denver mayor, former geologist, and successful brew pub owner sailed into the governor’s office four years ago over a divided Republican Party that had nominated an unknown Tea Party favorite.
With a self-deprecating sense of humor and an emphasis on bipartisanship, Hickenlooper got begrudging praise from some Republican state lawmakers for his first two years in office. But a controversial death penalty decision, a package of gun control bills, and mishaps explaining his choices have put a dent in Hickenlooper’s aura of invincibility.
Now, several polls suggest Hickenlooper is in a close race against Republican Bob Beauprez, a former member of the US House.
‘‘I’m going to win. I’m going to work hard enough,’’ Hickenlooper said in an interview. ‘‘I mean, I spent 16 years in the restaurant business. . . . He’s not going to outwork me. So, I am going to win, and this campaign is going to allow us to talk about the economy, and how are we going to create more jobs.’’
Still, Hickenlooper acknowledged that the policies he and fellow Democrats ushered in since 2013 have made things harder.
‘‘We took on every tough issue in the state,’’ said Hickenlooper. ‘‘We took on gun safety and capital punishment and civil unions — I mean you go down the list, we made difficult decisions again and again in places where you know you’re going to anger, you know, almost half the people. In some cases we knew we were going to anger more than half the people.’’
Much of the firepower for Republicans has come from Hickenlooper’s decision to grant an indefinite stay of execution last year to Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted for the 1993 slayings of four people at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Aurora, a suburb just east of Denver.
Was he high on weed?
Hickenlooper’s reprieve was not clemency, so he left the door open for a subsequent governor to execute Dunlap, leaving his fate unresolved.
‘‘Since that moment . . . he has to some extent been trying to play defense and recover,’’ said Floyd Ciruli, an independent Colorado pollster.
Despite the criticism, Hickenlooper said he believes his decision was correct.
‘‘I don’t think government should be taking people’s lives. I just don’t,’’ he said.
Is he planning on running for president on an antiwar platform?
While Hickenlooper’s popularity has waned, his Republican challenger has experienced a resurgence.
I'm getting the feeling it is going to be a really, really bad year for Democrats.
Once seen as a political laughingstock for losing the governor’s race by 17 points in 2006, Beauprez has emerged as a solid contender for a Republican to win the state’s top office for the first time since 2002.
‘‘I don’t want to sound overly casual about it, but the kind of geeky, aw shucks, nice-guy veneer that the governor had transitioned to [voters saying], ‘What the heck is up with that?’’’ Beauprez said.
The buffalo rancher and former banker mostly disappeared from politics after his 2006 defeat. But he stayed on the radar enough through radio programs, a book he published, and other writings. The work has provided ammunition for Democrats seeking to describe him as an ultra-conservative candidate who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and who would threaten immigrant rights.
Beauprez, however, has said he would respect other’s views on abortion if elected and generally has dismissed the attacks against him as irrelevant. He says voters are not thinking about those issues even if Democratic operatives are.
‘‘They want to invent issues because they can’t defend [Hickenlooper’s] record,’’ Beauprez said.
In the coming weeks, as the TV ad wars ramp up, Beauprez will also have to contend with Hickenlooper’s vast fund-raising advantage. The governor has raised nearly $4.6 million — four times more than Beauprez — and reserved about $2.4 million in TV advertising leading up to Election Day.
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Let's heat things up:
UK pop star Charli XCX (pictured in Colorado last month) performed at Royale on Saturday night (Nick Tininenko/Getty Images for Bud Light/file).
Related:
"A chemistry teacher was fired after four students were burned, one seriously, when a fire erupted in a Denver high school chemistry laboratory while the teacher was conducting a demonstration with methanol, a school spokeswoman said Tuesday. A letter was sent to parents notifying them that Daniel Powell no longer works at the school and all lab demonstrations have been suspended, said Lindsay Neil, spokeswoman for the Science, Math, and Arts Academy charter school."
Related: Science Experiment Blows Up in Teacher's Face
"Two people aboard a helicopter-like aircraft called a gyroplane were killed when it crashed into a river in western Colorado, authorities said Sunday. Gyroplanes look like helicopters but are powered by propellers. Air flow created by the aircraft’s forward motion spins the rotors, which provide lift."
Also see: Colorado man wants to bring gun into post office
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