Under a new Connecticut law, a “qualifying patient” with a “debilitating medical condition” may obtain a supply of marijuana from a licensed dispensary to alleviate symptoms or effects of such symptoms. The statute lists eleven “debilitating medical conditions” and gives the Department of Consumer Protection the ability to add others.
The act also gives guidance to address the workplace issues that will occur inevitably. The lawful palliative use of marijuana does not protect the ingestion of marijuana in the workplace. Also, the law “does not restrict an employer’s ability to prohibit the use of intoxicating substances during work hours or restrict an employer’s ability to discipline an employee for being under the influence of intoxicating substances during work hours.” However, an employer may not refuse to hire a person or discharge, penalize or threaten an employee solely on the basis of such person’s or employee’s status as a qualifying patient or primary caregiver under this law. Most of the law is effective October 1, 2012, An Act Concerning the Palliative Use of Marijuana, Public Act. 12-55.