olorado court rules workers can be fired
for using marijuana off duty
DENVER –Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it.
丹佛：在科罗拉多大麻已经合法化了，但是如果吸大麻仍然有可能丢掉工作。
The state Supreme Court ruled 6-0 Monday
that a medical marijuana patient who was fired after failing a drug test cannot
get his job back. The case was being watched closely by employers and pot
smokers in states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana.
科罗拉多州法院在周一是以六比零的结果裁定，一位服用医用大麻并因此失掉工作的病人不能拿回他的工作。在美国上下，那些已经将医用或娱乐用大麻合法化的州中，该案引起了企业主和大麻吸食者的普遍关注。
Colorado became at least the fourth statein which courts have ruled against medical marijuana patients fired for potuse. Supreme courts in California, Montana and Washington state have madesimilar rulings, and federal courts in Colorado and Michigan also have rejectedsuch claims.
科罗拉多至少是第四个法院作出判决，支持将大麻吸食者开除工作的州了。在此之前，加州
蒙大拿州与华盛顿法院都作出了相同的裁量，科罗拉多州与密歇根州联邦法院也分别拒绝了大麻吸食者的索赔要求。
The Colorado worker, Brandon Coats, is a
quadriplegic who was fired by Dish Network after failing a 2010 drug test. The
company agreed that Coats wasn't high on the job but said it has a
zero-tolerance drug policy.
科罗拉多州工人，布兰登·寇茨，四肢残疾，在2010年没能通过药检后被Dish Network公司开除。公司承认寇茨在工作时并没有吸食大麻，但是同时强调对于毒品采取零容忍态度。
Coats argued that his pot smoking was
allowed under a state law intended to protect employees from being fired for
legal activities off the clock. Coats didn't use marijuana at work, but pot's
intoxicating chemical, THC, can stay in the system for weeks.
寇茨则辩称吸食大麻是本州法律允许的行为，且法律本身即旨在保护员工在非工作时间吸食大麻而不被开除的权利。寇茨并没有在工作时间吸食，但是大麻含有有害化学物质四氢大麻酚，能够在体内停留数周之久。
The Colorado justices ruled that because
marijuana is illegal under federal law, Coats' use of the drug couldn't be
considered legal off-duty activity.
科罗拉多州作出如下判决是因为联邦法律仍然规定吸食大麻是非法行为，寇茨在工作外吸食大麻的行为严格来说并不符合联邦法律。
"There is no exception for marijuanause for medicinal purposes, or for marijuana use conducted in accordance withstate law," the court wrote.
Coats and his lawyers said the decision at
least clarified the matter for workers.
寇茨及其律师则表示该判决至少为其他工作者厘清了情况。
"Although I'm very disappointed today,
I hope that my case has brought the issue of use of medical marijuana and
employment to light," Coats said in a statement.
“虽然我今天很失望，但是我还是希望我的案件能够让人看清工作与大麻之间的关系。”寇茨陈述到。
Dish Network and other business groups
applauded the ruling.
Dish Network以及其他公司表示支持法院的判决。
"As a national employer, Dish remains
committed to a drug-free workplace and compliance with federal law,"
company spokesman John Hall said in a statement.
“作为一个遍及全国的企业，Dish仍然将承诺所有员工不服用毒品，且遵守联邦法律，”公司发言人John Hall这样说。
Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C.,
allow people to use medical marijuana. Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington
state and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana.
有23个联邦州，以及华盛顿，都允许居民服用医用大麻。阿拉斯加、科罗拉多、俄勒冈、华盛顿州以及DC还允许服用娱乐用大麻。
The Colorado Constitution specifically
states that employers don't have to amend their policies to accommodate
employees' marijuana use.
科罗拉多州宪法特别指出，虽然大麻合法，但是各大公司对于自身雇员吸食大麻的有关规定无需作出改变。
Coats was paralyzed in a car crash as a
teenager and has been a medical marijuana patient since 2009, when he
discovered that pot helped calm violent muscle spasms. He was a telephone
operator with Dish for three years before he failed a random drug test in 2010
and was fired. He said he told his supervisors in advance that he probably
would fail the test.
寇茨十几岁的时候因为一起车祸而瘫痪，2009年，他发现大麻可以缓解自己的肌肉痉挛现象，便一直服用医用大麻至今。他在Dish做了三年的接线员，2010年在药检抽查中被查出，随后被开除。他说他之前已经提前告诉自己的上级，很有可能不能通过药检。
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