Bill Text: NY A03487 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Excludes volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services employees from the permissive use of marijuana.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 13-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to labor [A03487 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A03487-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3487--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 3, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. DeSTEFANO, J. A. GIGLIO, BYRNES, LEMONDES, SMITH,
          MIKULIN,  MANKTELOW,  ANGELINO, J. M. GIGLIO -- read once and referred
          to the Committee on  Labor  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the cannabis law, in relation to excluding volunteer
          firefighters and emergency medical services employees from the permis-
          sive use of marijuana

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Section 3 of the cannabis law is amended by adding two new
     2  subdivisions 25-a and 25-b to read as follows:
     3    25-a. "Exempt fire agency" means a fire department of a city,  munici-
     4  pality,  village,  town  or other governmental subdivision that provides
     5  fire and emergency services or other safety sensitive tasks  to  provide
     6  public safety to a community.
     7    25-b.  "Exempt employee" means a volunteer firefighter or an emergency
     8  medical services employee of an exempt fire agency whose work  responsi-
     9  bilities  are tasks that impact the safety of a mitigation effort or the
    10  safety of other employees. Activities may  include,  but  shall  not  be
    11  limited  to,  driving  and  operating fire apparatus, operating in imme-
    12  diately dangerous to life atmospheres, establishing and  operating  hose
    13  lines,  performing all manner of rescue activities, and delivering emer-
    14  gency medical care to the sick or injured.
    15    § 2. Section 127 of the cannabis law is amended by adding a new subdi-
    16  vision 7 to read as follows:
    17    7. (a) For the purpose of assuring the safety of other volunteer fire-
    18  fighters and emergency medical services employees, the  public  and  the
    19  protection  of  their greater community, this section shall not apply to
    20  an exempt employee of an exempted fire agency.  Additionally, an  exempt
    21  fire  agency  shall  be  entitled  to take all reasonable measures to be
    22  assured there is no risk of cannabis impairment of its exempt employees,

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08003-02-3
        A. 3487--A                          2

     1  including but not limited to, preemployment testing, random  drug  tests
     2  and  testing  for  cause for the presence of evidence of cannabis use by
     3  the member in accordance with current federal standards.
     4    (b)  Any  exempt  employee of an exempt fire agency that is prescribed
     5  cannabis for medical purposes shall be required  to  immediately  report
     6  their  prescription to the exempt fire agency who shall consult with the
     7  exempt fire agency's medical director to make  a  determination  of  the
     8  exempt  employee's  fitness  for  duty  and  a  need  to  be  placed  on
     9  restriction.
    10    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.