Schwarzenegger Vetoes Medical Marijuana Bill
Earlier this week, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have provided certain employment protections to users of medical marijuana. AB 2279, sponsored by San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno, sought to overturn a recent California Supreme Court decision (Ross v. Ragingwire Telecommunications, Inc., 42 Cal.4th 920 (2008) holding that employers may lawfully terminate an employee who tests positive for marijuana, regardless of whether the employee claims the marijuana usage was medically prescribed. If the Governor had signed AB 2279 into law, employers would have been generally prohibited from firing or discriminating against applicants or employees for their use of medical marijuana. In vetoing the bill, Gov. Schwarzenegger indicated that he was concerned with interfering in employment decisions relating to marijuana use and that employment protection was not the purpose or goal of the 1996 ballot measure that legalized medical marijuana use in California.