Raped veteran loses lawsuit in cannabis for post-traumatic stress case

A New Mexico state district judge has upheld the firing of a physician’s assistant by Presbyterian Healthcare Services. Veteran Donna Smith, who was raped in the military, qualifies for therapeutic cannabis under state law.

She subsequently transmitted copies of her state-issued medical marijuana card, a doctor’s note and her driver’s license to the office, which informed her within minutes that she was fired, according to the lawsuit. Smith also voiced her disappointment. “How can you say it’s against federal law when we have 23 medical programs across the nation and four that are recreational? What’s the point of having a medical program at all if it’s not compassionate?”

Her attorney, Jason Flores-Williams claimed the hospital's decision is a chilling effect on Smith's civil rights, a discriminatory termination and a failure to accommodate a serious medical condition in violation of the New Mexico Human Rights Act.

Ultimately, this will be rectified in the courts, and someday soon, and we’ll look back on this as an unfortunate moment when our justice system could have been progressive and protected the rights of individuals, but instead chose to play it conservatively,” he said.

Read the whole story in the Albuquerque Journal.

Presbyterian is the largest employer in the state wielding tremendous lobbyist and coercive power.