Busted at work, oh no!

Well it finally happened. I was at work yesterday and there was a small accident. A stack of boxes fell on me. No worries I'm fine, I got a little whiplash and am otherwise ok. But, I had to pee for the company and it came up possitive for THC of course. I told the general manager that I did use medical marijuana in addition to other prescribed medications to treat my depression. I have a meeting on Monday to discuss the positive result and I fully expect to be fired at that time.

I've thought about this and my wife and i have talked about it over the last 24 hours, and we're both ok if that happens. In 2010 I developed severe recurrent depression, by mid June I had a suicide plan and the ability and means to carry it out. I am glad to say I did seek help and started on Paxil. I got better and didn't kill myself but was still lethargic and miserable. My Dr. and I then added Welbutren to the mix and I got my energy back, but was still miserable. That is when I decided to try MM. This was a carefully thought out decision discussed with my Dr. and agreed on by both my wife and I. As an adult person I made a decision about my health care and became willing th accecpt the consiqunces of my actions whether they be good bad or indifferent. So I started using medical marijana, on my days off, never on a day i was going to work in the safety of my own home. You know what life got a lot happier. I'm happier, my wife is happier, the cats are happier and we all agree that it has made a huge improvement in our lives.

And then this came along. So the wife and I talked some more and I thought some more and we both decided that it was ok that this happening, the cats didn't care one way or the other. No matter what happens on Monday it will be a victory for me. It is possible that they will surprise me and have a compassionate response to my test being positive, but since the home office is in TX I'm not holding my breath. I fully expect to be fired. Now I am well versed in prop 215, and labor laws here in CA and they had a right to ask for the test, and as an at-will employee they have the right to fire me anytime they want. But if they do so, it will be a loss for them. I'm a great employee and it will sadden me if they make a decision from such a close minded space. But my wife, the cats and I will be fine, more inconvenienced then anything. Yes I'll have to get a new job, but I've done that before, can do that again. The really really cool thing is that a year ago something like this would have pushed me closer to suicide. Today it's just a thing to handle.

What this has prompted me to do is to start to become more outspoken about this. I no longer want to live in the shadow of other peoples judgement and in fear of their reprisal. As I said before I an a grown adult person capable of making my own decisions. And in this case I hae decided to volunteer for a national marijuana law reform group. I will no longer post "herb" or "material" it is marijuana and I will call it that. I don't think that wear a t-shirt all the time that says "I vape pot", but I won't lie about it anymore. Because I also thought what if another person in my situation is out there but isn't in such a good space, what if this did really drive someone closer to suicide. Which made me think even larger about the stigma, close mindesness inaccuracy and repercussions that surround medical marijuana and it's laws.

I can no longer remain silent. You are my worldwide witness. More to come...

Edit: I may have posted this in the wrong forum. If so Mod please move.

mod note- Ask FC is for questions. Thread moved.

Best of luck in the future to you, your wife, and the cats.
I agree you seem like a responsible user, and should have no problem getting another job. I hope they will realize your value. Or if fired, you'll get another job, maybe a better job. Who knows the boxes falling on you could have been the best thing for you. Good blessings sometimes come disguised. Stay happy, healthy, and the rest comes naturally, again good luck!

I never really understood how this works in the USA but I've always found it odd how they seem to do these tests, well, almost everywhere. In my country it would be considered a breach of privacy. I'm sure there are some exceptions & I could understand it if you were a surgeon or an air traffic controller or something where lives can depend on your functioning, but to me as a foreigner it just seems ridiculous that it is so common. & by that I mean not only how many employers seem to want to do these kind of tests, but also how normal everyone seems to think it is to pee in that cup whenever they ask. I'm pretty sure at least 50% of the people in my country would simply refuse to be tested out of principle, mj user or not.


Sorry, that wasn't very helpful, I guess I needed to get that of my chest

Thanks for sharing your story anyways, it's always inspiring to see a man standing up for what he believes & it seems you have battled your depressions with great success. I know from personal experience how hard that can be.

Good luck with the current situation, I hope you find a more open minded employer soon if you do in fact loose your job

Cheers man.

OhTheAgony said:

I never really understood how this works in the USA but I've always found it odd how they seem to do these tests, well, almost everywhere. In my country it would be considered a breach of privacy.

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It has to do with workers comp & insurance. He didn't get test to get the job but since he hurt himself on the job they screen you for drug use.

I actually took a 2-hour seminar on this very topic.

Even though here in California it is legal to consume cannabis with a doctor's recommendation, that fact carries no weight at all when it comes to workplace drug laws. You may as well have been caught shooting up heroin in the conference room.

Sorry to hear about your situation, NewVape. That really blows.

But this too shall pass. Best of luck to ya.

I am happy to hear the calm you feel while suffering an injustice. Not everyone reaches that point in their life. It is a tough decision you are making but morally it is the right one.

In my life decisions that help me sleep better at night are not always easy. In the long run that's what matters, though.

OhTheAgony said:

I never really understood how this works in the USA but I've always found it odd how they seem to do these tests, well, almost everywhere. In my country it would be considered a breach of privacy. I'm sure there are some exceptions & I could understand it if you were a surgeon or an air traffic controller or something where lives can depend on your functioning, but to me as a foreigner it just seems ridiculous that it is so common. & by that I mean not only how many employers seem to want to do these kind of tests, but also how normal everyone seems to think it is to pee in that cup whenever they ask. I'm pretty sure at least 50% of the people in my country would simply refuse to be tested out of principle, mj user or not.


Sorry, that wasn't very helpful, I guess I needed to get that of my chest

Thanks for sharing your story anyways, it's always inspiring to see a man standing up for what he believes & it seems you have battled your depressions with great success. I know from personal experience how hard that can be.

Good luck with the current situation, I hope you find a more open minded employer soon if you do in fact loose your job

Cheers man.

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as understand it, the companies get subsidised for the tests, sp even if they don't really care about druguse it's monetary profitable for them to test anyways.
I'm not really sure about this tough, may depend on the state to, so better let someone from the US chime in on that.

I indeed would also refuse to piss in a cup(I can understand being fired fro being obviously intoxicated, and if it interferes with your job, but if they have to test you to even know you have used any drugs, it obviously didn't interfere with your job that much)

damn dude I feel for you! i hope it turns out ok too!

djonkoman said:

but if they have to test you to even know you have used any drugs, it obviously didn't interfere with your job that much

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I agree wholeheartedly, thank you. Judge the quality of my work, not my piss. Unfortunately, it's just so common to be tested when getting hired pretty much anywhere in our country. I've been tested upon getting hired at all my jobs that weren't in food service, now that I think about it. It is indeed an invasion of privacy in my mind, but if you refuse it's taken as "you have something to hide".

Thank you all for your positive replies and likes. My wife and I talked more and if they try to fire me I'm going to offer them an opportunity. I've done some research and there are a couple of assembly and senate bills here in CA that I believe will become law in the next 1-2 years. These laws would make it illegal to discriminate against MM users. I love the company I work for, they are great and they are very fond of saying how they are progressive and employee centered. I'm going to give them the opportunity to put their money where their mouth is. This is their chance to start creating a policy around MM, and to do it with a poster child for MM use. I'm 47, married, own a home, live right around the corner from work, pay my taxes etc. and have successfully used MM in a positive way. Hope they take the chance and will be sad for them if they don't.

You're looking at this positively. I respect the hell out of that. That's crazy that you get injured and they end up forcing you into a drug test. Hopefully you'll be better off without these jerks. You seem like a smart dude who knows what he's doing, I'm sure you'll find another gig. I'm glad you got better, man.

Let us know how it goes on Monday.

Any update?

The thing that pisses me off the most about "piss" tests is that they only work for MJ. Most other abused substances are gone within days of use. You could have went on a drunk coke/meth bing that weekend and passed with flying colors, .

Sorry about that, I hope everything is well.

....if I was you , I would be talking to an attorney. You never know..

... I prefer to call it Cannabis, simply because Marijuana was a derogatory term created by our gov. to scare people away from using it.

So I had my meeting yesterday, and of course they fired me. Beside causing the hassle of having to find a new job I think the wife and I will come through this just fine. It just sucks that they have such a short sighted policy, but they do. Really their loss. They're going to have to change their policies eventually. I really did like the company so no hard feelings. I am just going to have get a job in the gaming industry or something where they don't test.

It just makes me sad that in today's world this is still an issue. We have a long way to go.

...I still think there is value in talking to a lawyer....you just never know...wish you the best...

NewVape said:

We have a long way to go.

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Amen to that.

Good luck man

sorry to hear it turned out that way their loss!