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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    4

    Default Failing A Drug Test Following Legal Use In Another Country

    This may be a stupid question:

    Lets assume I went to Amsterdam on vacation and smoked pot or hash , whatever is legal there, buying and smoking it legally.

    Next day I get back to the US, and my employer does a random drug test on me. I test positive for pot or whatever. Can they fire me even though the drugs were legal when I smoked them. What if I can prove it with a ticket/passport stamp that I was in Holland. I did not break any laws, and the drugs were not "illegal" when I used them. I know they can fire me based on being in an "at-will employment state" but what if they had a contract with me and I could not be fired except in cases of "illegal or banned substances."


    BTW.. I don't do drugs.... did it a few times ago more than 20 years ago in high school, but never after that.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Failing A Drug Test Following Legal Use In Another Country

    When you are in the US, it is an illegal substance. Assuming that you are in the US when the employer gives you the drug test, since you are testing positive for a substance that is illlegal in the US, I see no reason why you could not be fired for it, even if you have a contract that states as you suggest.

    The moment you left the Netherlands, it was no longer a legal substance.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    578

    Default Re: Failing A Drug Test Following Legal Use In Another Country

    You are subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which you are present. A contract is presumed to be subject to the laws and legal/court interpretation of the jurisdiction in which it is made. My opinion is that, yes, you can be fired for testing positive on return from Amsterdam.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    3,835

    Default Re: Failing A Drug Test Following Legal Use In Another Country

    Quote Quoting rajgrover
    View Post
    This may be a stupid question:

    Lets assume I went to Amsterdam on vacation and smoked pot or hash , whatever is legal there, buying and smoking it legally.

    Next day I get back to the US, and my employer does a random drug test on me. I test positive for pot or whatever. Can they fire me even though the drugs were legal when I smoked them.

    YES! Illegal drug use is the public policy of every state.


    What if I can prove it with a ticket/passport stamp that I was in Holland.

    The US has no international treaties with any nation to permit drugs in this country even if legal on foreign soil and that includes any behavior upon reentry related to such from consumption. Once you step foot on US soil.... that's it. Example: If a high was still had after the flight back and you were driving an automobile as such, there is no defense that you used drugs legally elsewhere.


    I did not break any laws, and the drugs were not "illegal" when I used them. I know they can fire me based on being in an "at-will employment state" but what if they had a contract with me and I could not be fired except in cases of "illegal or banned substances".

    As Buzzard points out, a contract is binding by mostly jurisdictional law. You seem to be somehow suggesting the "conflict of laws" doctrine?? Such is not applicable here! If it is valid in jurisdiction A, then travelling to jurisdiction B should make it legal? No! Conflict of laws is even a legal conundrum here in the states at times.

    As an example, A is from Indiana, B is from Illinois. They have a car accident in Missouri. What state's statute of limitations apply as to when a lawsuit can be filed for injuries? This is the choice of laws application.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    not sure
    Posts
    526

    Default Re: Failing A Drug Test Following Legal Use In Another Country

    Quote Quoting rajgrover
    View Post
    This may be a stupid question:

    Lets assume I went to Amsterdam on vacation and smoked pot or hash , whatever is legal there, buying and smoking it legally.

    Next day I get back to the US, and my employer does a random drug test on me. I test positive for pot or whatever. Can they fire me even though the drugs were legal when I smoked them. What if I can prove it with a ticket/passport stamp that I was in Holland. I did not break any laws, and the drugs were not "illegal" when I used them. I know they can fire me based on being in an "at-will employment state" but what if they had a contract with me and I could not be fired except in cases of "illegal or banned substances."


    BTW.. I don't do drugs.... did it a few times ago more than 20 years ago in high school, but never after that.
    Smoking pot/hashish is not legal in Amsterdam. It is decriminilized.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Il.(near StL,Mo.)
    Posts
    5,252

    Default Re: Failing A Drug Test Following Legal Use In Another Country

    Sorry but I have to agree with the others that yes you can definitely be fired for a positive drug test.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    13

    Default Re: Failing A Drug Test Following Legal Use In Another Country

    If you test postive they can and will let you go.

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