Smoking dope at work: it’s not just for high school anymore. In fact, many people with medical cannabis recommendations have good reason for ingesting it on the clock.

These reasons include nerve pain, anxiety, anorexia and nausea just to name a few. It is ridiculous to fire functional workers just because they have pot in their systems.Cannabis has been decriminalized in many states, including California. It is no longer illegal to own and use if it has been recommended to someone by a doctor; however, many medical users still have been fired for failing a drug test.We should provide arbitrary protection for any schmuck with a prescription. Your weed card shouldn’t be carte blanche, and no prescription medication excuses you from being a drooling imbecile at work.Neither party deserves absolute protection; every case demands individual consideration.Debby Senna, psychology professor at American River College and counselor education professor at Sacramento State, sees no reason why cannabis shouldn’t be allowed, as long as the patient’s job performance isn’t negatively affected.”It should be treated just like any other prescription drug in the workplace,” Senna said.Clearly, a bank manager wouldn’t be happy if a teller was so high on Vicodin that he couldn’t count, and no one wants to see a police officer letting criminals off the hook because his Prozac makes him “love everyone.”Some tellers may perfectly retain the ability to count while on Vicodin, and some police officers could still be tough while on Prozac. Everyone should have a chance to prove that they can still be functional while on medication.”We don’t want a bus driver smoking pot, but we don’t want to deny a cancer patient a job either,” said Ryan Landers, longtime medical cannabis activist, senior adviser for the Compassionate Coalition and state director of the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis.The mere fact that someone smokes pot is too weak to prove they are unfit for their position. That sort of thinking rests heavily on stereotypes of pot smokers as clumsy, lazy, forgetful and even criminal, which isn’t always true. An employer should always be able to articulate real reasons for firing an employee.Paul Roundtree can be reached at [email protected]