A number of States within the U.S. are increasingly legalizing marijuana dispensaries. It is through these dispensaries that one could procure legalized marijuana. While most of the times people need to have a doctor's prescription to procure marijuana, since only medical marijuana is sold, the other important factor here is that not everyone can work in a medical marijuana dispensary.
Absurd as it may sound, you need to be a medical marijuana patient yourself if you want to be registered as an employee in a marijuana dispensary. This means that not everyone could apply to be an employee and it would be a real hard time for employers to find employees since you would have to find a medical marijuana patient first.
And that's what many want to change.
Recent laws have stated that if you work at a medicinal cannabis dispensary, then it is compulsory for you to be a medical marijuana patient or else you do not get the job. Some people in California consider this requirement an absurd and outdated one.
Most dispensary owners are of the opinion that it would be much better if they could hire the best and most qualified person for the job and not have to hire a medical marijuana patient only as the latter might not be as professional and qualified as the former.
A defence attorney who is an expert in state and federal marijuana laws reveals that one could be in deep trouble if he does not have a qualifying patient card when working in the dispensary.
Why are there different requirements?
Law firms wonder why a person must be on drugs in order to distribute them, especially when other industries do not place such requirements on its employees. With California’s medical marijuana industry growing by leaps and bounds, its Governor has also signed bills which will regulate the industry and all its aspects. If during the November ballot, the state approves the recreational adult marijuana use then users will not require a doctor’s prescription for use of the same.
A card is necessary
With the industry regulations not going into effect till 2018, marijuana still continues to remain illegal. This is where the medical marijuana card proves to be helpful as it helps an individual to avoid foul play with the law.
After California, 20 other states have also passed the same kind of law and have made marijuana legal for recreational use. However, in the states apart from California, the employees needn’t be ‘patients’ and people argue that marijuana cannot be considered a medicine if it is being treated as an employment condition.
Too many hurdles
If you are working as a receptionist at a firm which offers advice and licensing for new cannabis businesses, then you do not need to be a patient but you must possess a medical marijuana card to work as an office manager at delivery service companies which deliver marijuana.
Many employees state that they are ready to shed the requirement of a ‘patient’ and welcome the opportunity.
An owner at a Wellness Centre was interviewed recently. She explained that she was in need of a registered nurse in her dispensary and hired one recently. She said that she was lucky enough to find a nurse who was not only a medical marijuana patient but was also a qualified applicant for the job. However, she also stated that this requirement is quite limiting as it prevents her from interviewing a candidate, let alone hire him at the dispensary if he does not have a patient card with him.
She stated that it is possible that the person who suits the post most might not have an existing medical condition but he should still be given the job as dispensary owners want the most qualified employee and not the ones with card alone.
Easy to get a card
The patient card is not a problem to get especially for the Pure Cannabis Doctors online medical cannabis company. Coming in contact with the company’s several products including vape pens, all its 25 employees are patients with just the security guard being an exception.
It is quite easy to get a prescription card and medical recommendation. There are several substances which kill millions of people annually but are completely legal and do not require a doctor’s recommendation to get. It is a major concern that many people use cannabis for ‘ medical’ use only and not for curing serious health conditions such as epilepsy and cancer to name a few. Moreover, the number of such individuals who are addicted to the use of cannabis is expected to increase in huge numbers in the future.
Cannabis as a Cure
It is to be remembered that cannabis isn't just used for recreational purposes. It has been seen that cannabis can work wonders when it comes to treating a variety of life threatening diseases that includes cancer and multiple sclerosis or even epilepsy. What one needs to remember is that most people want to take cannabis for medical effects and the drug should be easily available for those in need.
The director of California NORML, Del Grieringerhas stated that it is not clear how long it will take for the new regulatory laws to undergo transition. Till this happens, the industry is expected to follow the old rules only. As of now, no one has approached the director saying that they want to be in the industry but are unable to do so because they do not have a medical marijuana card.
It is not difficult to get a medical marijuana card, and if you want to get hold of medical marijuana, you can easily. But the question is, is it worth it?? Wouldn't it be better if the laws themselves were to be more friendly towards all?