Washington State made recreational marijuana legal in 2013. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, in just a year the number of fatal car crashes involving the drug more than doubled in the state. The year before the drug was legalized, only 8% of fatal accidents involved drivers who showed signs of pot use. By 2014, that number was 17%.

Our recent blog, Employers Get More Backup in Medical Marijuana Fight, got a very big response and some interesting questions. Here’s a quick refresher on the story. A Tractor Supply Company job applicant told the HR department that he legally used medical marijuana to treat HIV/AIDS. The company offered him the job, but quickly fired him when he failed the mandatory drug test. The court ruled in the company’s favor claiming that compelling the employer to keep the employee would essentially be forcing them to break federal law.

Leave it to the federal government to make a complex situation even more impossible. Marijuana laws now differ in almost every state. Some allow it for medicinal use; others have gone whole hog and made even recreational use ok.  These all fly in the face of the federal laws which still have pot classified as a banned drug according to the Controlled Substances Act.

Are we putting the cart before the horse when it comes to legalizing medical marijuana? Some scientists and doctors in Canada believe so. Medical marijuana has been legal there since 2001. But while there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that people are getting relief from the drug, medical professionals say there’s still no true standard on usage and dosing. There is also a lack of data on long term risks that might come from using marijuana to treat a host of diseases from multiple sclerosis to cancer, migraines, seizures and dozens more.

It’s taken 5 years, but Colorado’s Supreme Court has finally ruled in the case of Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic who was fired from his job at Dish Network after failing a random drug test.  As an authorized medical marijuana user, Coats’ drug use was completely legal under Colorado state law, but Dish Network argued they have a zero-tolerance drug policy. The company maintained that since marijuana is still illegal on the federal level, its use for any reason is cause for termination. On June 15, 2015 the court agreed, saying state laws that stop companies from firing people for doing a “lawful activity” only protect employees who are let go for activities that are legal under both state and federal law.

National 420 day may be over but it’s two states against another in the war over legalized marijuana.