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A 57-year-old Newark man with end stage renal failure is suing NJ Transit, his employer, for suspending him and sending him into rehab because he is a registered patient with New Jersey's medical marijuana program.

(Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledge)

The last thing a man with end stage renal failure needs is for his boss to throw him into rehab for using medical marijuana.

But that's apparently what happened to Charlie Davis, a 57-year-old Newark man who has worked for NJ Transit for five years. His case, outlined in a recent lawsuit, is only the latest absurdity in our state's landscape of medical marijuana mishaps.

Let's be clear: This lawsuit is not about Davis' right to steer trains or operate machinery while stoned out of his mind. He's not defending his right to a job that affects public safety -- just a desk position, or a custodian gig. And his work performance doesn't appear to be in question here.

He's taking prescription pot because it helps him cope with chronic pain and sleep through the night, he says. He was completely upfront about it with NJ Transit. Yet the agency's medical director told him he had no choice: If he wanted to remain employed, he'd have to take a drug test. And if that test came back positive, he'd be suspended and sent straight to rehab.

Sure enough, Davis failed the drug test, which simply detects whether he's used pot in the past few days -- not whether he did so at work. He was packed off to rehab for two months, alongside a bunch of heroin addicts and alcoholics. He hasn't worked or received a paycheck since.

He's now being forced to choose between his job and his health. Ask yourself: Does this make any sense?

Yes, employers have the legal right to do mandatory drug testing, and NJ Transit says the U.S. Department of Transportation doesn't consider medicinal pot a valid medical explanation for a positive test result.

That's true of many employers, both public and private. Even though medical marijuana is legal in our state, federal law still classifies it as one of the most illegal drugs in the country, alongside heroin and LSD.

But our laws clearly need to change, as society gains a greater understanding of marijuana's medical benefits. In the meantime, employers need to exercise some discretion.

As long as a patient isn't responsible for safety or getting high at work, what's the problem?

Davis has a legitimate health reason to smoke marijuana on his own time -- and after all, he could be taking much stronger prescription drugs at work. As a decent employer, NJ Transit should do all it can to accommodate him, not treat him like an addict.

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