Home Depot Has No Compassion For Medical Marijuana Patients

I got a disturbing email today from Hawaii medical marijuana patient Nick Stennet. The email detailed how he had recently been offered a job at Home Depot and then had the offer rescinded after failing the pre-employment drug screening. While this discrimination is a fact of life for many medical marijuana patients, it was the run around Home Depot put Mr. Stennet through that is inappropriate.

Mr. Stennet suffers from a rare condition, “Poland Syndrome,” and has a legal and current prescription to use marijuana to help alleviate the pain. According to Mr. Stennet it is a “condition that is described as an absence or underdevelopment of the chest muscles on one side of the body. In addition some of the side effects are shorter fingers on the same side of the body as well as a possibility of the heart being on the right side.” He has also found that “marijuana is the most helpful of anything I’ve tried to help subside the pains i have in my chest and right arm.”

He informed the human resources department and presented his current prescription BEFORE he was sent down to take the drug screening and told that there would be a “section in which I fill in for prescriptions” according to his email. After arriving at the screening location, there was no section to fill in for prescriptions and, as expected, it came back positive for THC and now they have rescinded his offer for employment.

“My condition does not prevent me from performing any essential working duties,” according to Mr. Stennet. “I have never had a problem with employers in the past and have never been terminated or sent home because of being under the influence.”

If Home Depot didn’t allow his prescribed marijuana use, why would they send him down to take the drug test in the first place. It seems to me like they are trying to discriminate against medical marijuana patients without having an official policy concerning this pressing issue. “I am now in dire straights still trying to find a second job to support myself” stated Mr. Stennet. If Home Depot chooses to discriminate, they should make people aware before they waste people’s time in what is already a tough economy.