A behind-the-scenes look at how Spotlight PA found Pennsylvania workers who were fired or demoted over medical marijuana.
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here.
Our months-long investigation into employment protections for medical marijuana patients began with an email about a failed drug test.
After a drug screening indicated he had used marijuana, Philadelphia Gas Works employee Todd Douglas told me he faced a troubling choice: Give up a doctor-approved drug that provided pain relief, or risk his job. As our reporting explained, Douglas fought the drug test and won. Other medical marijuana patients weren’t so lucky.
When I started working on the investigation, two questions surfaced: How many people find themselves in Douglas’ situation? And what happens to them?
There’s no simple answer, but I used a number of techniques to understand the issue. I did a lot of interviews with advocates and attorneys, of course. But I knew not everyone would want to talk — and confidentiality agreements could pose problems for some if they did. We wanted to understand those situations, too.
I analyzed about 20 medical marijuana employment cases, filed dozens of open records requests, and reviewed thousands of pages of public records. All of these steps were necessary to understand how decisions made by lawmakers in Harrisburg and...
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