Oregon TV anchor fired over positive drug test now a pot activist

Cyd Maurer, a morning weekend anchor at Eugene’s ABC affiliate KEZI-TV, said she was fired in May after getting into a minor accident while on assignment. In a video posted online, Maurer said that after the accident she was forced to take a drug test per company policy and failed it.

Maurer, 25, said she was completely sober at work and had used the marijuana several days before. Studies show marijuana, unlike alcohol, can be detected in some people for days after use — or even weeks, in case of frequent users.

In June, a court in Colorado ruled that a medical marijuana patient who was fired after failing a drug test cannot get his job back. The patient, a quadriplegic, said he didn’t use the drug at work. The company, Dish Network, agreed that he wasn’t high on the job, but it said it has a zero-tolerance drug policy.

The Colorado justices ruled that because marijuana is illegal under federal law, use of the drug couldn’t be considered legal off-duty activity.

That would be true for states where weed is not legal, but that's illogical in states that have legalized recreational use. Can I get an appeal?

More to that story here.

Where marijuana is legal, employers have to quit firing people who test positive for it. We know that traces of the drug remain in your system for days, even weeks, after you have consumed. Long after you're no longer high, obviously.

Who here could ever honestly say they were still high in the morning after toking the night before? It. Does. Not. Happen.

We need better testing to be able to distinguish between those who are actively high and those who may have consumed some after work, last nigh, but show up to work sober. I'm sure this is possible.