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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Law & Legal |
Can you legally be punished here in the US for smoking marijuana somewhere it is legal? |
For example, on vacation in Amsterdam, visiting (and participating) in the "coffee shop experience." Then going back to work and failing a subsequent drug test, leading to termination. The law was not broken while it was being consumed, and not on US soil. Just curious. Technically, the sale of cannabis remains an offence in Holland, and dealing in the streets remains illegal. Even so, possession of less than 30 grams for personal use carries only a minor punishment, and coffee shops are restricted to flogging no more than five grams per person. The catch is you have to be 18 or over. Smoking in public is usually tolerated, too, although recently, I've seen signs prohibiting it. You have broken no US laws, so you are ok on that front HOWEVER, if you must be drug tested for any reason it doesn't matter where it came from. You can still be fired for it. It would still count against you in any court related issues, i.e. child custody. So, the answer is YES, your company can legally fire you. They have a policy against drug use and you went against it. Boy, that's a good question. Maybe if you could prove with airline tickets that you were in Amsterdam? I bet though they would still fire you because you still did fail the drug test. Getting fired for failing a drug test is not being punished for breaking any law - and if you smoked it in Amsterdam and it's legal there, you didn't break a law. You would be getting fired for breaking a company policy - and yes, they can legally fire you for that. Yes - depending upon your job. For example, if you are a police officer here and go to a country where certain drugs are legal, and you take them and then return to work and fail a drug test, you can still be terminated for taking drugs. It wouldn't matter whether they were legal where you took them or not. If your being dt in American and fail a test it doesn't make a difference. You failed! They are not going to research where you smoked it. It can last in your system up to and over a month long. Most people are being dt because of a job, rehab, or court order so your taking a risk. You can't get in trouble by the police, unless you get in a car wreck and it was in your system when your took the blood test. But your company can fire you if they want, its just policy that you don't use drugs while working for them, it doesn't matter where you used them. Well, you weren't terminated as punishment for breaking a law -- you were terminated for using drugs, whether legal or not. You broke one of the rules of your workplace, which aren't necessarily related to any law. Many workplaces might fire you for drinking alcohol on the job, which is perfectly legal throughout the U.S., and in all but some Muslim countries. |
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