Pittsburgh councilwoman pushes to end pot testing for medical marijuana card holders

A Pittsburgh councilwoman wants to ban employment discrimination for people with medical marijuana cards.

Legislation introduced Tuesday by Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, would make medical marijuana cardholders a protected class.

The bill would ban almost all employers in the city from testing prospective employees and current workers for cannabis use if they have medical marijuana cards from the state. Those without cards could still be subject to testing.

Employers could also still test for marijuana after accidents or for cause if people are using the substance while working.

There would be exceptions for jobs where federal or state agencies require cannabis testing or any position that requires an employee to carry a gun.

Medical marijuana patients, Warwick said, have gone through the proper process to get legal approval to use cannabis to help cope with health concerns.

“Excluding them from employment opportunities because of that is wrong,” she said.

There were more than 441,000 certified medical marijuana patients in the state as of May 1, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The new legislation would not require employers to permit their workers to use cannabis on the job. One provision would allow employers to bar marijuana users from certain high-risk activities.

The city already abides by the rules outlined in the bill with its own employees, Warwick said.

That includes the city’s fire bureau, where firefighters have been able to use medical marijuana since 2018.

Ralph Sicuro, president of the firefighters union, said the policy allowing people to use medical cannabis “reflects our commitment to the health and well-being” of workers in a field that sees increased risks of cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

“This policy has made positive impacts to their health and quality of life, all without fear of losing their job,” he said.

The city’s Commission on Human Relations would be tasked with enforcing the new anti-discrimination rule.

Warwick could not immediately provide any data to indicate how frequently people lose job opportunities because of medical marijuana use.

Pete Schmidt is the Service Employees International Union’s area coordinator for Western Pennsylvania. He said the union— which represents about 6,000 workers in the region in industries like security, office cleaning and food service — hears weekly about problems related to employment discrimination for medical marijuana users.

The union, he said, has tried to get protections for medical marijuana patients in some of its contracts.

“But it has been a fight,” he said.

Theresa Nightingale, community outreach coordinator for Chicago-based medical marijuana company Cresco Labs, said many medical marijuana patients are elderly or middle class and struggle to find employment while using cannabis.

“They’re not doing this just because they like being high — they’re truly sick,” she said during a press conference Tuesday outside council chambers. “These people want to work.”

Olga George, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Gainey, said the administration supports the legislation.

Warwick said she penned the bill after a conversation with Saundra Cole, co-founder of P.O.O.R.L.A.W., a Hazelwood-based organization that serves youths and seniors.

During that conversation, Cole voiced frustration that lawmakers said medical marijuana was legalized but people still suffered repercussions for using it.

“It is affecting the people who are in my community from getting those jobs” that have come with new developments in the community, Cole said.

The measure will appear on council’s agenda for discussion and a preliminary vote next week.

This comes amid efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use at the state level.