Bill Text: NY S06073 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS [S06073 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06073-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6073

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 28, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  WEIK  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
          ment Operations

        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,
    23  including  but  not limited to, preemployment testing, random drug tests

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08003-03-3
        S. 6073                             2

     1  and testing for cause for the presence of evidence of  cannabis  use  by
     2  the member in accordance with current federal standards.
     3    (b)  Any  exempt  employee of an exempt fire agency that is prescribed
     4  cannabis for medical purposes shall be required  to  immediately  report
     5  their  prescription to the exempt fire agency who shall consult with the
     6  exempt fire agency's medical director to make  a  determination  of  the
     7  exempt  employee's  fitness  for  duty  and  a  need  to  be  placed  on
     8  restriction.
     9    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.