The bill was tabled to ban discrimination in the workplace against patients with medical cannabis

The representative Jesús Manuel Ortiz submitted this week the bill no. 152, which will prohibit employers from discriminating against employees who are registered patients authorized to use medical cannabis.

“In both Puerto Rico and the United States, there are state laws that allow the use of medical cannabis to patients duly authorized and certified by the state. However, not all jurisdictions have labor protection laws to protect employees or potential employees from discrimination for positive cannabis testing as a result of any medication they need to address their conditions. This puts patients in a vulnerable situation to be discriminated against and risk losing their jobs “, Ortiz González mentioned in a press release.

The project, co-authored by Rafael “Tatito” Hernández, Héctor Ferrer, Ramón Luis Cruz and Orlando Aponte, states that registered patients will be considered a protected category in all Puerto Rico labor protection laws. “Being a patient who treats your medical cannabis conditions cannot be an excuse to be discriminated against on employment. Our goal is to protect employees from being sanctioned because they receive medical treatment that may be the best or only form of help available for their respective conditions, ”said Ortiz.

The representative also explained that, although Law 42-2017 allows the use of medical cannabis, it does not protect employees who consume it from being penalized for taking advantage of the mentioned treatment. Therefore, this measure seeks to temper the rule of law to protect the employee-patient.

“The approval of this project would give the patient-employee peace of mind to benefit from medical treatment with cannabis without fear of being penalized and even fired from work. The measure protects the patient from the recruitment and hiring process. Being a patient who treats his medical conditions with cannabis cannot be an excuse to be discriminated against at employment “, added the popular representative.

Finally, Ortiz pointed out that the measure incorporates certain exceptions from employee-patient protection if the employer succeeds in demonstrating that the use of medical cannabis is a danger or interferes with their work functions; endangers a certification or permit issued by the federal government; or the employee ingests the drugs during working hours without authorization, among other things.