BY KATHLEEN GRAY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Steven Karapandza says his use of prescription marijuana to help ease the pain of daily migraine headaches is none of his boss’ business.

He never smokes pot on the job. He doesn’t come to work high, and he gets his work done without fail, he said.

“In my mind, it’s like any other medication,” said Karapandza, 28, a Sterling Heights resident and cell phone repairman. “You wouldn’t go up to your boss and tell him you’ve got a prescription for Vicodin.”

Karapandza is among 5,108 Michiganders registered as medical marijuana users since a new law passed last fall by voters took effect in April.

Another 2,092 people have been approved as caregivers. About 1,100 applications have been denied under the law that permits marijuana prescriptions for pain relief among people who are chronically and terminally ill.

For employers, the issue is less clear-cut than the way Karapandza sees it.

“It’s hard enough to run a business,” said Kurt Sherwood, an attorney with Miller Canfield, a big Detroit-based law firm that held a seminar last week addressing employment issues, including medical marijuana. “I can see this creating a nightmare scenario.”
Test? Hire? Fire? Medical pot users stump employers

Employers are facing tough issues as they try to navigate the state’s fledgling medical marijuana law, such as the difference between “smoke” and “ingest.”

Or whether company policies on drug testing still apply in a state where 63% of voters approved a new law last fall allowing medical use of marijuana.

During an employment seminar hosted last week by the Miller Canfield law firm in Troy, business owners heard they’re in limbo, at least for now.

Since the law took effect in April, more than 7,200 people have been registered either as users of medical marijuana or their caregivers. So far, no employee or job applicant has filed a lawsuit saying he or she was fired or denied a job because of a positive drug test.

“We check the filings every day,” said attorney Kurt McCamman of Miller Canfield. “We just don’t know where Michigan is headed.”

Read the rest.