FILE PHOTO: In this Nov. 11, 2020 file photo, jars of marijuana are seen on display at Montana Advanced Caregivers, a medical marijuana dispensary, in Billings, Mont. The Montana Senate on Friday, April 23, 2021, passed a bill to implement a recreational marijuana program in the state, which would reserve tax revenue from sales for addiction treatment and statewide conservation efforts. Voters approved a ballot measure last year to legalize recreational marijuana sales. The ballot measure also sought to divert a significant portion of tax revenue toward conservation efforts.
Kiley Koscinski is a reporter for 90.5 WESA. She reports on breaking stories from a variety of realms in Pittsburgh; with specific interest in the growing technology sector.
She has previously produced Morning Edition and The Confluence for 90.5 WESA. Before that she worked as a producer and assignment desk editor at NewsRadio 1020 KDKA. Kiley attended Point Park University and was the Music Director of the student-run radio station, WPPJ.
Kiley is deeply interested in the oddities of Pittsburgh and the communities that make up the city’s underbelly. Stories and tips can be sent to kkoscinski@wesa.fm
Matthew Brown / AP Photo
FILE PHOTO: In this Nov. 11, 2020 file photo, jars of marijuana are seen on display at Montana Advanced Caregivers, a medical marijuana dispensary, in Billings, Mont. The Montana Senate on Friday, April 23, 2021, passed a bill to implement a recreational marijuana program in the state, which would reserve tax revenue from sales for addiction treatment and statewide conservation efforts. Voters approved a ballot measure last year to legalize recreational marijuana sales. The ballot measure also sought to divert a significant portion of tax revenue toward conservation efforts.
Pittsburgh City Council may consider new labor protections for medical marijuana patients. A bill set to be introduced Tuesday would prohibit employers from requiring people to be tested for marijuana if they have a prescription for it.
City Councilor Barb Warwick, who is sponsoring the bill, said those who are prescribed the drug are often unfairly penalized for taking it.
“Medical marijuana cardholders in the City of Pittsburgh have taken the time to secure legal permission from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to use cannabis to treat a medical condition,” Warwick said. “Excluding them from employment opportunities because of their medical condition is unfair and discriminatory.”
Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act was signed by former Gov. Tom Wolf in 2016: That same year, Pittsburgh decriminalized possession of a small amount of marijuana. Dispensaries began selling products to qualified patients in 2018. Three years later, the state expanded the list of medical conditions that qualify for the drug’s use in treatment.
But many employers have not updated their drug testing requirements to accommodate legal uses of marijuana. Warwick argues that has created an unnecessary barrier for patients.
“They are still unable in many cases to get work because of that,” Warwick said. “That’s discrimination [and] we wouldn’t do that for any other medical issue.”
The bill would add medical marijuana patients as a protected class under Pittsburgh’s city code. That would grant them protections like those that currently guard against discrimination based on race, gender or sexual orientation.
The bill does not require employers to allow patients to consume marijuana at the workplace. And it does have some exceptions: Employers could still test workers who use commercial driver’s licenses, for example, or who carry firearms for work.
Also excluded are jobs whose operations are regulated by state laws that govern the handling of chemicals, high-voltage electricity and other utilities. A patient may not operate such machinery with a blood content of more than 10 nanograms of active tetrahydrocannabis (THC) per milliliter of blood.
And though the bill prohibits random testing of employees, it doesn’t block employers from ever testing for use of marijuana. It allows employers to require a test after a workplace accident, or to carry out testing if an employee is clearly under the influence while on the job.
“There are guidelines for when you can and can’t use [marijuana],” Warwick noted. “Those guidelines and recommendations hold the same here.”
If the bill passes, the city would enforce the new protections through the city’s Commission on Human Relations, which administers the city’s other anti-discrimination rules.
A press conference is expected to be held Tuesday to unveil further details about the measure.
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