For Coos Bay resident Jude Isaacson, obtaining a medical marijuana card was a dramatic turning point in her life. 

Isaacson had back surgery in 2000, and consequently developed a severe staph infection in her spine. As a result, Isaacson now has neurological damage, and in medical marijuana, said she has found a way to cope with each day.

“Two years ago, I was mostly in a wheelchair, had no energy and was very depressed. Not anymore,” Isaacson said.

Isaacson also suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder she believes is the result of working 16 years as a 911 Dispatcher for the Coos Bay Police Department. She bowed out from her position, unable to take any more of the drama that clouded each day on the job.

 “Cannabis has brought me back. I can focus now,” she said.

She is one of the 755 Oregon Medical Marijuana Program patients in Coos County and is concerned about an effort to curtail medical marijuana rights. A business lobbying group is pushing a bill in the Oregon Legislature (Senate Bill 2497) to exempt employers from having to accommodate medical marijuana patients.

Plainly put, if an employee, who is legally authorized to medicate himself with marijuana, tests positive, it would be grounds for termination.

Advocates for The Drugfree Workplace Legislative Work Group are also working to banish some conditions that qualify patients, restrict approval of new conditions and require employers notification when a worker applies for a marijuana card.

Opposition

J.L. Wilson, vice president of government affairs for Associated Oregon Industries, sees medical marijuana as a liability for employers.

“Cardholders bring up a whole host of issues. None of which are good for business,” he said.

Wilson says that AOI has a council of about 30 companies, and many employers have horror stories about employing medical marijuana users and impairment on the job.

“In Oregon, employers are forced to accommodate something that’s federally illegal,”  Wilson says. “It’s a tough situation.”

Mimi Bushman, director of WorkDrugFree Oregon, said drugs are a tremendous social problem.

“It’s not just about safety. It’s a productivity issue,” Bushman said. “ Six billion dollars is the annual cost to Oregon for substance abuse. Four billion of those dollars is just in lost productivity. If you think about it, that’s what we’re paying for the entire kindergarten through twelfth grade education system in the state.”

Wayne Haythorn, associate of Mother Against Misuse and Abuse, contends all of the changes the group is proposing are designed to stir up fear, cripple the program and punish patients.

“I do not believe this bill is going to pass. It failed last time and it will fail again,” Haythorn said.

Bushman said Oregon is ranked higher than most states in indicators of substance abuse in the nation for workers. She said when her organization held forums around the state, most employers showed sympathy about patients needing pain relief, but ultimately, they were concerned about compassion conflicting with their employee drug policies.

Statistics

The Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Administration statistics seem to conflict, too. The administration’s findings show a decrease in workplace accident rates every year since the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program went into effect. From 2000-06, the leading cause of workplace fatalities was heart attack and cardiac arrest. OR-OSHA’s list does not reflect any findings of workplace fatalities due to impairment.

Health care providers can find it tough to straddle the line between the law and providing the relief patients need. Dr. Michelle Petrofes of Dunes Family Medical Clinic in Reedsport treats six medical marijuana patients now through strict criteria. She said she has to have an active care relationship with patients and that they have to have tried every other medication available first.

“I don’t just sign forms. It’s not my first line of treatment by any means,” Petrofes said. “Some patients I took care of between 15 and 20 years before I would sign their cards for them.”

Dr. Daniel Rusu, physical medicine and pain management expert at North Bend Medical Center, said a huge population of his patients request to be prescribed medical marijuana, but most don’t qualify.

Still, “more than 70 percent of my patients test positive for marijuana. Most of them don’t have cards,” he said. 

Rusu believes the battle over marijuana will continue, whether for medical or recreational purposes.

“There’s a contradiction between the Drug Enforcement Agency and Oregon law right now,” he said. “I do respect the law, so I advocate for it if patients have tried other medications that haven’t worked for them.”