Last updated on 2024-01-15
Republicans seem eager to continue chipping away at the medical cannabis law that South Dakota voters approved in 2020. Five days before the 2024 Session opens, legislators have already filed five bills dealing with medical cannabis, and every one of those bills aims to discourage or complicate obtaining the demon weed to ease what ails you.
Senator Jim Mehlhaff (R-24/Pierre) contributes to the war on medical cannabis with Senate Bill 12, which weakens the protections medical cannabis prescribees have against adverse employment actions. SB 12 would add the following clauses to SDCL 34-20G-22:
Nothing in this section prohibits adverse employment action, based solely on a positive test result for cannabis metabolites, if the person is employed in a safety-sensitive job.
Nothing in this section prohibits an employer from refusing to hire a person, based solely on a positive test result for cannabis metabolites, if the person is seeking employment in a safety-sensitive job [2024 Senate Bill 12, Section 1, excerpt, as filed 2023.12.22].
…and to SDCL 34-20G-24:
No cause of action is created for employment discrimination or wrongful termination arising from an employer’s enforcement of a drug-free workplace policy in compliance with this chapter [SB 12, Section 2, excerpt, 2023.12.22].
The administrative rules for drug screening in state employment in safety-sensitive jobs all appear to be focused on illegal drugs. Medical cannabis is legal in South Dakota, but as long as the feds continue to treat marijuana use as a crime, employers would still get by with using SB 12 booting applicants and employees who test positive for cannabis metabolites, whether or not they have a prescription.
No bills have been assigned to committee yet, but Senate President Pro-Tempore Lee Schoenbeck (R-5/Lake Kampeska) says he expects some bills to have committee hearings and reach the Senate floor in Week 1. Senator Schoenbeck co-sponsors SB 12 and the two other Senate bills (SB 11 and SB 10) on medical cannabis.
Because freedom!
Coming into work hungover is perfectly legal though…
Surely there are more important issues in SD to focus on than taking jobs from some people. This legislation is dumb and a waste of time.
The concept of this bill is fine, but it needs some fine-tuning, or, to be specific, some broadening out. Do you want anyone on any medication that causes a safety concern driving an eighteen-wheeler, for example? I get the feeling these folks aren’t really serious about safety, and are more concerned about virtue signalling. I get the feeling these guys don’t give a rats ass about safety in the workplace. Look, one of the co-sponsors is Rep. Novstrup, who will probably submit another bill loosening safety on amusement parks. Schoenbeck doesn’t care about enforcing any laws to protect the safety of young children in the Catholic Church. Why don’t the sponsors of this legislation start repenting for their lack of concern for the safety of others as they weaken environmental regulations? I really don’t think these sponsors are serious folks. They certainly have a record of voting against safety when the issue isn’t cannabis.
I agree Donald. I feel they are singling out one drug when there are many drugs that shouldn’t be in one’s system where safety matters (booze, some antihistamines, etc.).
One would think there are already safety and OSHA regulations for this though…
If safety were a priority, they would not have worked around the federal requirements for sleep breaks every so many hours for OTR truckers. Sleep deprivation is the worst for safety sensitive tasks.
These people are not serious and we need some hardcore opposition in the legislature to let them know how foolish they look. Like Michigan’s Senator Mallory McMarrow and the Tennessee Three and Nebraska’s Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, just to name a few gooduns.
Reminds me of the old Viet Nam era humor recording of “What the Captain Really Meant to Say,” where the Capt. answers a reporter’s question (rather salty response) and then the Admin officer would step in and say, “What the Captain really meant to say was…” The people of SD speak and then the legislature pick up their pens and say, “What the people really want is…” Freedumb, baby, freedumb.
I’m always astonished when musicians like Jim and philosophers like Lee are so proactively closed minded.
Is this no longer a Right to Work state where employers have always been able to deny hiring and institute terminations for any reason or no reason at all? Why so picky about marijuana?
Boot all tokers of the Demon Weed.
They are a proven safety risk to health, financial security, and business growth. Many fellows get booted from jobs for toking, and as well they should.
Therapeutic cannabis is a safe effective medication so how South Dakota keeps any workers at all remains a mystery. But thank dog the driving test is in Spanish so white Republicans can spend more time snorting and shooting meth.