Walmart worker Joseph Casias, 29, can take heart from the fact that the company is highly “sympathetic” to his struggle with an inoperable brain tumor. The sympathy, however, did not prevent the company from firing him because he used legal medical marijuana to deal with the pain of the tumor.
Casias was fired in November from a Walmart store in Battle Creek, Mich., after marijuana was detected in a routine drug screening. He proceeded to show all of the records that he took the marijuana legally and there was never a complaint about his performance at work. He worked 12-14 hours a day.
Walmart spokesman Greg Rossiter told FoxNews.com “This is just an unfortunate situation all around.” Well a bit more unfortunate for Casias, wouldn’t you say? Rossiter add “We’re sympathetic to Mr. Casias’ condition, but like other companies, we have to consider the overall safety of our customers and associates, including Mr. Casias, when making a difficult decision like this.” So, this is a Walmart version of Reefer Madness.
Once again, I am not sure why Wal-Mart fights these fights (here) and reaffirms the global view of the company as one of the dark forces in the business world.
For the full story, click here.
Their zero tolerance policy against MM wouldn’t have anything with their founder’s desire to find “creative ways to share the Christian faith in local communities,” would it?
(From Sam Walton’s Wikipedia entry – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Walton)
“Walton supported various charitable causes, including those of his church, the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Sam and Helen R. Walton Award was created in 1991 when the Waltons made a gift of $6 million which included an endowment in the amount of $3 million to provide annual awards to new church developments that are working in creative ways to share the Christian faith in local communities.”
PS. I wonder if they randomly drug test the executives in Bentonville, you know, for safety reasons, or if it’s just the $15/hr and under crowd that they’re interested in terrorizing?
and my appologies Duh, I thought you were posing that question to me.
Tylenol 1,2,& 3 here contain codiene here. I guess technically radiation isn’t a drug.
Canadian,
I stand corrected,heh!
Canadian Eh,
Elaine M. said “There are any number of legally prescribed and over-the-counter medications that can impair a person’s abilty to function”.”
I said ”Could you please name some? The weekend is just around the corner ”
You said “You asked me for a list”
LOL. You’re gonna have AY thinking that you’re Elaine M. and bdaman and me. 🙂
On a serious note. Is “radiation” a drug? And why is Tylenol on the list?
Raffalw….
Are you kidding me….it’s Canada no beer is off limits here!!
Duh,
In re: Sandra
What did she expect marrying a guy with “Pay Here, Sucker!” tattooed on his hand? I have nothing against tattoos, but come on.
And get in line. 😀
And I suggest that what you see is individual reaction in action. I know people who can have ten drinks and be just as they are sober albeit a bit slurred. I know people who can have ONE drink and it makes them . . . beg to get beaten by their obnoxiousness.
Everyone’s body chemistry is different.
Canadian,
Is Coors allowed in Canada?
“I submit your chemistry is simply not right for it.”
ROTFLMAO 🙂 Try to explain that to the 3 people laughing uncontrollably while watching me. 🙂
I’ve gotten stoned with people from all over the world. For the most part we all have the same reaction. We get happy, and we laugh at some really stupid stuff. Only rarely have I seen people beome mean stoned. (I had a date do that once. I don’t know if it would have happened a second time.) 🙂
From what I have observed, only the regular “stoners” can be considered “functional” while stoned. For most people, they don’t seem to be able to accomplish much while stoned.
Maybe we should suggest it for Tiger Woods. He’d still want to cheat, but I bet he’d lack the motivation. Not to worry; it looks like Sandra Bullock might be available soon. I got that going for me. Which is nice.
Rafflaw…
Now that made me laugh…I can assure you however, even as a Canadian, if I was drinking beer…it would be Coors!
stoners might eat up walmart’s profits
Over 100 posts! Wow! This story is just one more example of Wal-Mart being Wal-Mart! They have a history of abusive handling of employees. What is one more!
Canadian,
Are you sure that the “cocktail” that you mentioned just had the name “LaBatts” on it??
Duh…..
” Could you please name some? The weekend is just around the corner ”
You asked me for a list
Buddha, thanks for your assistance.
Canadian Eh, what is that list representative of?
Thanks for your help Buddah!!!
Here is Canadian’s list:
Lithium – Metformin – Glyburide – Tylenol (1,2 & 3) – Oxycodine – Codine – Morphine – Percocet – Flexeril – Arthrotec – Risperidone – Lithium – Ritalin – Statera – Concerta – Epival – Clonazepam – Atavan – Oxazepam – Imovane – Prozac – Effexcor – Zoloft – HRT medications – Birth control pills – Chemotherapy – Radiation
Duh,
In re: bus drivers.
See my comment about zero tolerance appropriate jobs.
Plus, I’ll be trying to post Canadian’s list for her as soon as she e-mails it to me.
As ever, one lives to be of service.
Duh,
I submit your chemistry is simply not right for it. Like any drug, individual reactions may vary. Some people can take aspirin, others it’ll kill ’em.
Wow, I have tried twice to post a list of drugs for you Duh, and the list won’t post. Strange.
To answer your question….I would have to look for the support references to be honest. I just don;t have the energy left in me tonight to do that, but I will tomorrow. I have taken several pharmacutical courses over the years, and have to be aware of this type of information in the work that I do. I actually work with a wonderful knowledgeable Psychiatrist on a professional basis and have had this similar conversation ( how medications work in the body ) with him on occasion.
Did I drive…no, not for the period of time that i was off of work….way too dangerous. I did however continue to take the cocktail once I returned to work at night for a short period of time and did drive during the day…in retrospect I should not have.
With regard to the school bus driver question…no I wouldn’t want my kids riding on a bus with anyone who was ” strung out ” on anything. However using MM medicinally does not render a person ” strung out “.
“Cannabis has a very high LD50 (about 1500 lbs smoked over 15 minutes) (49). The LD50 is the lethal dose for dose for half (50%) of the animals exposed to a drug: LD = “lethal dose”. It is therefore comparatively difficult to die from an overdose of this drug.
However, cannabis should not be considered a harmless drug that has no toxicity. It has a number of physiological effects that can be hazardous, beyond the potential of damage that smoke can cause. Most of the adverse effects are within the range tolerated for most medications (50). Most of these effects in overdose are extreme forms described in short term adverse effects.
Rare acute complications (such as panic attacks, psychosis, convulsions, etc.) that present to the Emergency Department can be managed with conservative measures (51). Signs and symptoms with smoked marihuana are an extension of the psychotomimetic and physiologic effects of THC. These effects may be more pronounced and last longer with an oral overdose. If disturbing symptoms occur at the prescribed dosage, the patient should be closely observed in a quiet environment and supportive measures should be used.”
From http://medicalmarijuanainformation.com/precautions/toxicity.php
In other words, the effective dose (ED) of marijuana is about 1000 times smaller than the median lethal dose (LD50).
Compare to alcohol toxicity which is LD50 at 7,060 mg/kg. This is only ten times the ED of alcohol.
Compare to nicotine toxicity which is lethal at 50 mg/kg. While you cannot OD on nicotine via smoking alone, smoking in conjunction with patches or gum could easily kill you. And liquid nicotine, a common insecticide, can kill you from dermal contact as it’s easily absorbed through your skin.
Hands down, marijuana is a safer drug than booze or Marlboros.
Does marijuana have side effects? Yes it does. But they are mild comparatively speaking. The worst side effects are from the smoking itself, but there are ways to smoke (i.e. low temperature vaporizers) that deliver the THC from the crystal structures on the leaf surface but leave behind the tars in the plant material proper.