The 420 Minute: A Plea To Employers

The 420 Minute: A Plea To Employers
By Sarah Mulcahy

Alright, folks. This is The 420 Minute coming to you live from the future, this just in: everyone is getting high. Okay, okay. That’s just my personal fantasy, but a woman can dream, right?
We here at The 420 Minute spend a disgusting amount of time thinking about and discussing the plights of humanity, the future of our species and how marijuana fits into this ever-evolving global society.

One topic I am passionate about in particular (okay there are like 50 million topics I’m passionate about, especially my right to exaggerate willy-nilly) is pre-employment drug tests including marijuana in the panel in states with recreational legalization laws.

So, non-industry employers (and anyone with the incorrect belief that potheads are lazy or less-capable or bad *cough* Jeff Sessions *cough*), this is my plea to you:
STOP TESTING POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES FOR MARIJUANA!!!!

Let me give you a few reasons why this archaic practice is discriminatory, hypocritical and contributing to the continued negative stigma surrounding marijuana use.

  1. People use it medicinally (most states with recreational weed started with MMJ)
    1. If people with opioid prescriptions can get approved to have those substances in their system without getting penalized on pre-employment drug tests, then it stands to reason that people with medically approved marijuana use should be granted the same exemptions.
    2. Not everyone with a legitimate medical reason has a prescription because they can obtain it legally, recreationally, without the hassle of doctors and insurance.
  2. It’s legal RECREATIONALLY!!!!
    1. THC shows up in your system even if you haven’t consumed for weeks. This fact allows discrimination against weed users vs. alcohol drinkers with regard to outside-of-work consumption of legal substances. Which legal substances I consume on my time is my business. Don’t want me to smoke at work? Fine. But you shouldn’t have the right to deny me employment for consuming a legal product outside of work.
    2. Some jobs are much easier to perform while high. Just ask any dishwasher of a major restaurant (or any food industry worker for that matter!!). Not every job is rocket science, and until elected officials are required to take pre-employment drug tests I don’t see why the rest of us have to be subjected to it for simply WANTING TO WORK!!!
  3. GOOD PEOPLE USE MARIJUANA!!!!
    1. This week I witnessed women in the Cannabis Industry breaking down race and gender barriers (@msmarypryor , @alexisbortell and @marijuanamadams are doing amazing things to reduce stigma and change the planet #dontfollowmefollowher), I watched art being created and listened to music completed (@letssmokesomethinggood, @shakinandjakin and @theanthemx), and I got to be a part of this community lifting one another up and spreading positive vibes (@dabswithderick, @thesmokinamazon, @the_masked_toker_420 among many, many others!!).

Employers, you are missing out on amazing employees because you only see a negative when I’m positive for THC. Yeah, I’m a pothead, but I’m also an artist, a mathematician, a scientist, a customer service guru, the go-to tutor for my niece and nephew, a voter and taxpayer, a punctual and hardworking employee, a dreamer, the daughter of a cancer patient and Veteran. I am all of these things and so much more.

Just like the millions of people in this country using marijuana every day.

There is a social stigma that we fight and crack a little bit every day. I smoke for me, for you, and for the species. I love the way my mind works when I’m high. I feel it opening up and I feel less emotional dysregulation when high (you want a good time? Get high, listen to Tool and read some science fiction. See how crazy your thoughts get!!) How could the thing that lets me live my best life, a full life, be bad? How can I be a bad person for using this amazing plant?

I’m tired of asking myself these questions, of feeling guilty for doing what works for me, and I’m especially tired of being called a criminal or a “bad” person. We aren’t all Spicoli; some of us are Alexis Bortell or Snoop Dogg or the thousands of nameless and faceless prisoners incarcerated for simple possession of marijuana.

Most of us are just average people, struggling with the realities of life and existence, trying to ease psychic pain. Stop denying us employment over THC.

Alright, as for the rest of you...keep calm and smoke on!

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