Lafayette Police and Civil Services Municipal Board opened the door on Tuesday for the city government and parish to reconsider how the growing use of CBD products affects their drug policies after reinstating a Department of Police officer. Lafayette police who failed a drug test after allegedly taking common products. sleep drops that contained CBD hemp oil.
The city fired Officer Bernard Anderson in June after he was involved in a traffic accident on December 24, 2020, while on duty and both a mandatory drug test after the accident and a new test of his Urine samples tested positive for metabolites of marijuana, chemicals. created by the body that breaks down the drug.
For suspected marijuana use, tests typically look for metabolites created by the breakdown of THC, the psychoactive component that gives marijuana users a high level, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Matt and Crystal Grayson are growing their Broussard hemp farm in what they hope will one day become the Amazon of the cannabis world. The f…
An internal investigation was conducted, including a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer test that did not indicate that Anderson lied about his alleged use of CBD, and Anderson was dismissed in accordance with substance abuse of zero tolerance by the Lafayette Consolidated Government.
On Tuesday, the Civil Fire and Municipal Police Board voted 3-1 to restore Anderson; Board member Micky Broussard voted against, while member Dwight Prudhomme was absent. No exact date has been set, but Anderson will receive a late payment.
Anderson said the positive test results came from prolonged use of CBD drops as a sleep aid. He said he had started using the drops regularly between three and six months before the accident on the recommendation of his wife, a nurse, to whom co-workers who used them pointed the drops.
“I have trouble sleeping and falling asleep. It’s always been that way. I started paying more attention to it when I joined the PD because it’s obviously a serious role and I don’t have the ability to loosen my condition. ‘Alert, and sleep is an important part of that,’ “Anderson said.
The Lafayette Police Department has had five different leaders or incumbent leaders in the last two years since Mayor-President Josh Guillory also …
CBD, or cannabidiol, is a compound found in the cannabis plant and can be extracted from hemp or marijuana, two varieties of cannabis. CBD is often derived from hemp, which the Congressional Research Service defines as containing less than 0.3 percent THC.
In 2019, the Louisiana legislature passed bills to establish a framework for the production of industrial hemp and the sale of hemp-derived CBD products, following the heels of 2018 federal legislation that took similar action nationwide. . The regulation of the CBD industry and the THC content of CBD products is still under development.
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Anderson’s attorney, Allyson Prejean, argued that the levels of marijuana metabolites in Anderson’s urine could be from THC contained in his CBD supplement and the urine test performed could not differentiate between illicit use of marijuana and CBD.
Dr. Nickles Bergeron, a Prime Occupational Medicine medical review officer, confirmed that his office could not determine what exact substance the metabolites were coming from, but it was some form of marijuana plant or derived product. He also confirmed that his office did not perform a CBD / THC ratio test, an analysis that compares the volume of CBD and THC metabolites to help potentially differentiate between illicit marijuana use and CBD use. or other hemp products.
Anderson’s attorney also called a former co-worker and supervisor as a character witness, who testified that Anderson exercised good judgment and had never shown signs of marijuana or other substance use. interactions inside and outside the workplace.
Matt and Crystal Grayson are growing their Broussard hemp farm in what they hope will one day become the Amazon of the cannabis world. The f…
Ricky Zeno, human resources manager for the Lafayette Consolidated Government, said the department has a zero-tolerance policy for substance abuse, whether used for the first time or repeated, and that a breach of politics causes dismissal. Zeno said the policy covers any illegal or illicit substance; When asked, Zeno said the policy does not refer to CBD or have specific guidelines for CBD.
Zeno said the city-parish may have to review the policy in light of CBD issues after Tuesday’s board interrogation.
State Sen. Fred Mills, a pharmacist who sponsored legislation he passed in 2020 to legalize medical marijuana in Louisiana, told the board that some products could be made with higher-than-legal THC levels, without consumers knew it.
Board member Christina Olivier, in offering the motion to reverse Anderson’s dismissal, said she found that “the city did not act in good faith and just cause” in proving Anderson.
What secured the case, Anderson’s attorney Allyson Prejean said after the sentencing, was the lack of a policy that addresses the use of the CBD. The problem, he said, had arisen earlier and LCG had not yet addressed it in its policies.
“I’m thrilled that the board sees the lack of progress LCG is making in following social norms with CBD oil and CBD drops, items that I can buy at the gas station or that come in a granola bar or a energy drink can make me lose my job and my life, “Prejean said. “If politics is zero tolerance for CBD, that’s what it is. It didn’t address the substance it took.”
