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Maryland lawmakers have sent the governor a bill to protect firefighters and rescue workers from being penalized over their lawful use of medical marijuana off the job.
The House of Delegates approved the Senate-passed legislation, SB 439 from Sen. Carl Jackson (D) in a 108-23 vote on Monday, about two weeks after passing a companion measure, HB 797 from Del. Adrian Boafo (D).
The Senate bill, now having cleared both chambers in identical form, heads next to the desk of Gov. Wes Moore (D), who can sign or veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. The identical House bill cleared a committee in the opposite chamber but did not receive floor action there by the time lawmakers adjourned for the session on Monday night.
The passage of the legislation comes after years of attempts over recent sessions to enact the reform aimed at giving emergency service professionals the option to use cannabis as an alternative treatment for health conditions that commonly afflict the first responder community.
The change is “so critically important to our firefighters” and other rescue professionals who “work long shifts in tense emergencies and high-stress situations every day,” Boafo said at a committee hearing this session.
“Many experience chronic pain, injuries and anxiety as a direct result of serving our communities,” the lawmaker said. “Medical cannabis, when prescribed and used off duty, can help manage those conditions. But under current policies, firefighters who use medically prescribed cannabis can face retaliation or discipline from their employers, even when they’re following the law.”
“That leaves many of these public servants with a difficult choice: Either continue doing their jobs in pain, or turn to stronger prescription drug drugs, often opiates, just to get through the day,” Boafo said, while emphasizing that “nothing in this bill allows for impairment on the job” and that those who come to work impaired “will still face serious consequences and will be reported” to state emergency medical services regulators.
“Public safety remains a top priority here in Maryland, but our state must modernize its laws to protect employees who use medically certified cannabis responsibly and outside of the workplace,” he said. “Our firefighters and rescue professionals dedicate their lives to protecting us. They should not be punished for seeking legal, medically prescribed relief for the physical toll of that work.”
SB 439 and HB 797 would amend the state’s medical marijuana law by stipulating that firefighters, emergency medical technicians, cardiac rescue technicians and paramedics employed by the state or local governments could not face employment discrimination or retaliation for testing positive for cannabis metabolites if they’re a registered medical marijuana patient.
Specifically, employers could not “discipline, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against the fire and rescue public safety employee with respect to the employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” if they test positive while holding a medical cannabis registration.
Further, employers could not “limit, segregate, or classify its employees in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive the fire and rescue public safety employee of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the fire and rescue public safety employee’s status as an employee.”
Nothing in the legislation would prohibit employers from taking action against an employee for showing up to work while under the influence of cannabis, and any instances where a public safety worker is found to be impaired while on duty would be reported to the State Emergency Medical Services Board.
The advancement of the House and Senate cannabis bills comes a year after officials in Maryland’s most populous county said they were moving to loosen marijuana policies for would-be police officers in an effort to boost recruitment amid a staffing shortage.
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Meanwhile in Maryland, lawmakers also recently sent the governor legislation to provide legal protections for veterinarians who recommend medical cannabis for animals.
Another proposal that has passed the legislature and awaits the governor’s action would extend a psychedelics task force through the end of 2027 to develop updated recommendations on expanding therapeutic access to the novel drugs and potentially creating a regulatory framework for broader legalization.
Legislators also took up a bill this session to protect the gun rights of medical marijuana patients in the state, but it did not pass.
Tom Angell is the editor of Marijuana Moment. A 25-year veteran in the cannabis and drug law reform movement, he covers the policy, politics, science and culture of marijuana, psychedelics and other substances. He previously reported for Forbes, Marijuana.com and MassRoots, and was given the Hunter S. Thompson Media Award by NORML and has been named Journalist of the Year by Americans for Safe Access. As an activist, Tom founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority and handled media relations, campaigns and lobbying for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
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