Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

I’ve been following with great interest the case of the Michigan man was fired from Wal-Mart for using marijuana. No big shocker, at first – after all, many corporations have policies in place in regards to illicit drug use. Seems that the former employee, 30 year old Joseph Casias, was fired last year when he tested positive for marijuana after he injured his knee at work. But like Paul Harvey said, here’s the rest of the story....

It turns out that this married father of two has an inoperable brain tumor as well as sinus cancer. His oncologist prescribed medical marijuana, WHICH IS LEGAL IN MICHIGAN, to help him deal with the chronic pain. Poor bastard. He has brain cancer, sinus cancer, a twisted knee AND he works at Wal Mart? Job had it easier.

Joseph Casias, 30, said he was fired late last year after five years of employment at a Wal-Mart store in his hometown of Battle Creek.


Wal-Mart, in their defense, stated that it “does not approve” of the legal use of medical marijuana. "Like other companies, we have to consider the overall safety of our customers and our associates, including Mr. Casias, when making a difficult decision like this".



Well, I can see their point. After all, there are other alternatives to Medical Marijuana. For example, Mr. Casias could try a nice safe prescription drug like Celebrex, whose only side effects are stomach bleeding, heart attack, stroke, nausea, constipation, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, and vomiting. Or, he could use an opium-derived pain killer, which work great. Also, LOTS of doctors endorse their use. One doctor in particular comes to mind ....



The only downside to opiate-based pain killers is their highly addictive nature and the very real risk for overdose and death. But they won't give you bloodshot eyes, make you crave twinkies, or smell funny. Put down that joint, Mr. Casias – Wal-Mart says safety first.


The real point of this story is that Wal-Mart would have fired Mr. Casias if he was smoking opium to relieve his pain and it showed up on a drug screening. Which all boils down to Wal-Mart only wants their employees to use legally prescribed pain killers that are made and distributed by our pharmaceutical industry. Since this means opiates, the pretty red flower wins out over the ugly green weed, in spite of the much greater risks. Wal-Mart, one of the largest retailers of pharmaceuticals in the US, knows what side it’s bread is buttered on.


Too bad the pharmaceutical industry never read my earlier post on medical marijuana - poor Mr. Casias would be red-eyed, stoned, and happy, greeting polyester-clad overweight people as they walked through the doors of the Battle Creek store.

http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/2010/03/medical-marijuana.html

Yeah, I know that I sound like a wacky conspiracy theorist, but here’s some further proof: Here’s a screen-shot from the Reuters news story about the Casias case. Note the pop-up ad on the left side of the screen – it’s for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturers of Celebrex. The people in the ad seem quite happy, despite their risks for a heart attack or stroke.




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