Bill Seeks To Ease Medical Cannabis Restrictions for New Mexico Firefighters
High Times

The proposed legislation “would narrow the definition of ‘safety-sensitive position’” under the state’s medical cannabis law, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. That provision has precluded first responders and firefighters from entering the New Mexico medical marijuana program, which launched in 2007. “As proposed, the definition would only include employees who are required to carry a firearm or operate a vehicle with a commercial driver’s license and ‘whose performance under the influence of drugs or alcohol would constitute an immediate or direct threat of injury or death to the person or another.’ State law currently defines a ‘safety-sensitive position’ ineligible for the medical cannabis program more broadly, barring firefighters from using medical cannabis without their employer’s permission,” the publication reported.  The legislation is being backed by local firefighters unions. “We would use responsible policy to address everything just like about alcohol, and not only alcohol but other prescribed medications that we’re not allowed to use when we’re working on the job,” Miguel Tittmann, the president of  International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) 244, told local news station KOAT. “We would not be able to use medical marijuana so many hours prior to the shift if we were able to negotiate responsible policy.” Christopher Johnson, the president of IAFF 2362 in Las Cruces, echoed those sentiments. “I think a lot of our hope was that that would be able to be cleared up at the state level, which would kind of open up the door for the municipalities to start making that distinction and allow them to allow us to use that as well,” Johnson told KOAT. The bill is currently being considered by a committee in the state House of Representatives.  Democrats hold majorities in both chambers of the New Mexico legislature. The state’s Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, has…

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