In 2008, 63 percent of Michigan voters said “yes” to proposal one, which legalized the use of medical marijuana under physician appointment. Surrounding the Medical Marijuana Act of 2008 has been a firestorm of controversy, especially concerning the workplace.

Medical marijuana at GVSU

Section four of the Medical Marijuana Act of 2008 states that medical marijuana patients “shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution or penalty in any manner or denied any right or privilege including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for the medical use of marihuana in accordance with this act.”

Under current university policy, GVSU has a zero tolerance policy regarding marijuana usage or possession on campus, even in the case of a licensed patient. Matt McLogan, vice president for University Relations, said GVSU’s policy did not change as a result of the Medical Marijuana Act of 2008 and still remains subject to the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act amendment of 1989, which prohibit controlled substances on campus and were not altered by the referendum.

“Smoking is prohibited in all campus buildings,” McLogan said. “Consequently, students and employees may not use, possess or store marijuana on campus. A student or employee with a valid MMA card would need to exercise its use off campus, in a lawful place and in a manner consistent with the ordinances of the local jurisdiction.”

Maureen McElroy, Campus Employment supervisor, said there is no current campus-wide policy regarding medical marijuana in place for student workers either prior to employment or during employment.

“If an issue would arise we would refer to the Student Code, Section 208.0 on drugs,” McElroy said. “We would then refer the case to University Counsel/Dean of Students.”

Likewise, Athletic Director Tim Selgo said there is currently no NCAA policy that specifically addresses medical marijuana. He said it is unlikely an athlete with a prescription would be able to compete at an intercollegiate level, given the reasons the medication would typically be prescribed.

“Given that, just like any other positive test related to a prescribed drug (e.g. ADD/ADHD meds), there is a process to appeal with proper documentation to the NCAA Medical Safeguards Committee,” Selgo said.

Capt. Brandon DeHaan, assistant director of the Department of Public Safety, said the recreational marijuana use on campus is currently “no more a problem than that of any other substance abuse issue.”

Although they have not encountered a student claiming to hold a medical marijuana license, DeHaan said in the event the police were to encounter a student using, or possessing marijuana for any reason, they will seize any paraphernalia or actual marijuana on them prior to conducting an investigation — even if that student claims to have a valid MMA card.

“Consumption on campus still presents a problem,” DeHaan said. “Bottom line, we will be conducting an investigation to determine the status or students’ legal ability of that MMA card to validate the authenticity.”

Benjamin Zito, president of the GVSU chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, believes that as it stands, university policy leaves no room for students who are more or less confined to on-campus residence.

“There could be a freshman with a MMA card living in the dorms without any transportation or a place to legally take his/her medicine,” Zito said. “In such a scenario, I believe that the university should reasonably accommodate this hypothetical student.”

Great workplace debate

In March of this year, Joseph Casias, a Battle Creek resident and Wal-Mart’s 2008 Associate of the Year, was fired under the pretense of illicit drug use after a routine drug screening showed he tested positive for marijuana. Casias was not recreationally using the drug but rather began the newly-legalized medical marijuana treatment under his doctor’s recommendation for an inoperable cancer tumor located in his sinus. Under Wal-Mart’s company policy, Casias was then terminated.

Greg Hatt, a 21-year-old former Grand Valley State University student and medical marijuana advocate, said he believes current policies make medical marijuana in the workplace difficult. He said although proposal one indicates an employer cannot discriminate against users, Michigan law also says an employer does not have to accommodate a patient who uses medical marijuana.

“It’s kind of conflicting there because they could say ‘OK, well we aren’t going to accommodate him by letting him work here under these circumstances because of policy,’” Hatt, who organized a protest in Casias’ honor after his termination, said. “Then at the same time under the Michigan law, they are discriminating against him for using medical marijuana when they allow people with other kinds of medicines to work for them.”

The medicines Hatt discussed consisted of other potent pain relievers such as oxycodone or methadone, which can potentially last up to 24 hours with side effects such as drowsiness and inability to drive or operate machinery.

Zito said SSDP’s views agreed with Hatt’s own.

“In some cases, especially with marijuana, these punitive measures more negatively affect the user than the drug itself,” Zito said. “Our idea of a sensible drug policy is one that treats drugs, and the use of drugs, as a health issue, not a criminal issue. In the case of medical marijuana, we feel that a person should be free to use the drug, especially if its use effectively alleviates pain when other drugs cannot.”

Hatt said marijuana is a better option for patients, since it can leave little to no residual side effects for those in the work force. The only potential side effect to medical marijuana use, he said, is a minor respiratory irritation that can be minimized or completely eliminated through different forms of ingestion such as vaporization or taking the marijuana in an edible form.

“If you take it in very heavy doses, you might have a little residual effect,” he said. “For example, you may be a little hazier the next morning, but it wears off quickly and is really not common. Usually there is little to no residual effects to using it.”

The most prominent pros of medical marijuana versus other pain medication include a more controlled method of dosage, the treatment of nausea where other medications bring it about as side effect and one of the big hooks – it is all natural.

“You know, a lot of people don’t want to use those synthetic, man-made concoctions, if you will, that are unnatural,” Hatt said. “We don’t really know exactly what they’re doing to our body and they have a lot of negative physical effects on the body.”

Policy reform and protest

Hatt said the human use of cannabis has been documented as far back as 7,000 years ago. This history, along with the cannabinoid receptors in the brain, indicate to many including Hatt that marijuana may be something similar to a vitamin that a body needs.

“Humans and cannabis kind of interlock, or go hand-in-hand like we do with other things when we use other foods,” Hatt said.

With that thought it mind, Hatt and the rest of the Protest for Peace are uniting Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. (a symbolic act on the part of the organization) under the Transitional Link, a GVSU campus free speech zone, to lobby for policy reform in Lansing concerning the Michigan marijuana and MIP laws currently set in place. Protest for Peace is proposing the legalization of marijuana and the use of the revenue created from that legalization to fund the withdrawn Michigan promise scholarship as well as support K-12 education in the state.

“We are asking them to take a step into the light and start practicing a way of law which is more righteous and based on the truth,” Hatt said.

More information on Tuesday’s 420 Reform Rally can be found on the Facebook event page.

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