EAST WINDSOR: University food worker on paid leave due to medical marijuana

By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Packet Media Group
Don DeZarn now thinks he made a mistake when he told his employer about his medical marijuana prescription.
Mr. DeZarn, 48, of East Windsor, the senior operations manager with campus dining at Princeton University, attempted to go back to work on Tuesday nearly two weeks after the university’s Department of Public Safety consulted with the Council of the Princeton University Community and told him he couldn’t return to work as a result of his medical marijuana use.
"I made a bad mistake and tried to be up front with the university," Mr. DeZarn said. "I let my supervisors and everybody know that I would not be intoxicated at work and that I would answer any questions. I hit a roadblock at public safety and they contacted the university council. At that point, that’s where the problem started. They said I couldn’t come back to work and that I posed some type of risk to students if I was intoxicated on my medication. I had documentation from my physician that I wasn’t going to be at work intoxicated."
When he tried to go back to work he was told he had to submit additional documentation from his physician so the university could consider accommodating him under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Martin Mbugua, spokesperson for Princeton University, declined answering specific questions about the incident but provided the following statement:
"Princeton University is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for employees who have a disability. He (Mr. DeZarn) met with university administrators Tuesday morning to discuss the process. As he has been since June, he remains on paid leave while the university works with him through an interactive reasonable accommodation."
Mr. DeZarn has been an advocate of legalizing marijuana for several years. He started attending rallies in December 2012 and was arrested twice for smoking marijuana at two different rallies in 2013. The former libertarian candidate for the state Senate’s 14th Legislative District who previously ran on a "legalize freedom" platform is also now a candidate for U.S. Congress District 12 after accepting the Legalize Marijuana Party nomination.
He received his medical marijuana card last year.
"I only got my card last May after a long, long process and at that point I was only using medical marijuana at night when I was not working," he said. "I really wanted to get off pharmaceuticals and there was this particular strain at the Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge that was lower in THC, which produces the intoxicating effects, and higher in CBDs, which would help with the spasms I was experiencing with my condition."
New Jersey’s Compassionate Use Act only provides for the medical marijuana treatment of people with certain medical conditions, mainly chronic and fatal conditions. Mr. DeZarn’s qualifying condition is inflammatory bowel disease but the war veteran also suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, the effects of which are also lessened as a result of his medical marijuana prescription, he said.
Only recently did Mr. DeZarn start taking a daytime prescription.
"I gained weight, my energy was back and my physician and I decided to go that route with no pharmaceuticals," Mr. DeZarn said, adding that he decided it best to tell his employer.
"I understand some details of the federal law and know they’re in a tough situation," he said. "I find myself looking back, wishing I kept quiet."
If Mr. DeZarn remains employed by Princeton University, he will celebrate 18 years there next month.
"I love the university and am very grateful for all it has done for me over the 18 years I’ve been there," he said. "I just hope one person in a position of authority with compassion and open mindedness will help me remain employed there."
The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey, which has a mission to bring about safe and legal access to medical marijuana for New Jersey patients who are under the care of licensed physicians and nurse practitioners, supports a bill in the New Jersey Legislature (A3525) that "would correct most of the problems with the state’s Medical Marijuana Program, including the lack of explicit workplace protection for program participants," according to Chief Executive Officer Ken Wolski.
"In fact, this bill would make it unlawful to take adverse employment action simply for medical marijuana use," he said.
Mr. Wolski continued, "To me, it is a question of fundamental fairness. If a person is using marijuana that was recommended by a licensed physician, in compliance with a program that is overseen by the New Jersey Department of Health, and that person is not impaired on the job, there should be no workplace repercussions. We would not expect workplace repercussions if the physician recommended a different course of treatment, including narcotic therapy, so why should there be an exception for marijuana use?"
Mr. Wolski said the proper treatment allows a disabled person to work as a productive member of society.
"It is unconscionable to forbid a disabled person access to appropriate therapy because of prejudice against this therapy," Mr. Wolski said.
Mr. Wolski said it is true that the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act does not "require … an employer to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any workplace."
"However, the act doesn’t forbid it either, and the spirit of New Jersey’s law is to protect program participants from criminal and civil harm," Mr. Wolski said.