Wal-Mart Fires Sick Worker Over Medical Pot

Employee with brain tumor won't be rehired
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Suggested by markhebert42
Posted Mar 17, 2010 2:52 PM CDT
Wal-Mart Fires Sick Worker Over Medical Pot
A file photo of a Wal-Mart store.   (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, File)

A rule's a rule, says Wal-Mart, and a little inoperable brain tumor isn't going to change its mind. The company fired a 29-year-old employee (he also has sinus cancer) who tested positive for pot—that is, the medical marijuana he legally uses for the pain. "We're sympathetic," said a spokesman, but "we have to consider the overall safety of our customers and associates." He flatly rejected the possibility the employee could be rehired.

A marijuana advocacy group is organizing a national boycott, and the ACLU is on the case. "Wal-Mart is a large corporation, but they don't supersede state laws," a spokesman tells Fox News, noting that medical pot is legal in Michigan. "When the voters of the state vote to make the use of medical marijuana legal and protected, that is a law that binds even Wal-Mart." (More Walmart stories.)

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