Lets Talk About Volunteers and Marijuana

Arizona is about to vote to legalize marijuana. Here's something to think about when the ambulance take over an hour.... 

Today marijuana is legal for recreational use in 11 states including Nevada and California, and medical marijuana is legal in 33 states including Arizona. 

We need to change how we look at medical marijuana use and volunteers in Arizona. Nobody wants anyone responding on a call impaired from marijuana, alcohol, or any other substance. 

Volunteer firefighters are difficult to find in large communities let alone small communities like ours. Who want's to carry a pager 24/7 to get called out at dinner time and in the middle of the night for free? 

It's time we get over the prejudice and druggie stereotype of people who use marijuana. You would be surprised how many of our leading business and government officials use marijuana rather than alcohol. Remember marijuana is legal in Washington DC... 

In 2013 CBS Channel 5 from Phoenix came up to Dolan to interview me about first responders using marijuana. The article Medical Marijuana Rules Unclear for First Responders pointed out how various agencies dealt with medical marijuana.

It's been 7 years and I hope agencies have changed their outlook on medical marijuana users in Arizona. I understand their reluctance to allow recreational marijuana users to volunteer in Arizona. 

If a volunteer used marijuana legally in Nevada on Saturday and was drug tested after a minor traffic accident on Wednesday. He would be charged with DUI simply because he had metabolites left from using marijuana 5 day ago. 

If the volunteer had an Arizona Medical Marijuana card, law enforcement would need to prove impairment, something they couldn't do after 5 days. 

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act has various protections for patients. When driving police must prove impairment and employers cannot refuse to hire, fire, or otherwise penalize a job candidate or employee because the person is a registered medical marijuana cardholder. In Nevada like alcohol and prescribed medications marijuana isn't included in pre-employment drug screens.

It's time we get over what people do in their own home. The LMRFD had lots of volunteers who provided excellent service, what happened?