Maryland lawmakers have voted to stop employers from punishing firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics for using medical cannabis on their own time — and if Governor Mikie Sherrill signs HB 797 as expected, Maryland will become one of the most explicit states in the country to codify that protection in law. The House of Delegates passed the measure 100–31 last Thursday. The Senate companion bill (SB 439) cleared the chamber last month 33–11. The math is not subtle.
This is about over 100,000 registered medical cannabis patients in Maryland — some of them the people you call when your house is on fire.
What This Bill Actually Does
HB 797 amends Maryland’s medical cannabis law to create a specific employment shield for fire and rescue public safety employees — firefighters, EMTs, cardiac rescue technicians, and paramedics employed by state and local governments.
Under the bill, their employers cannot fire them, discipline them, demote them, cut their pay, or otherwise penalize them if they test positive for cannabis metabolites — provided they hold a valid state medical cannabis registration.
There is no protection for showing up to work impaired. If a firefighter comes in high, the employer can act and is actually required to report it to the State Emergency Medical Services Board. The bill is narrow on purpose: it protects off-duty use by people who followed every rule Maryland set when it legalized medical cannabis. It does not give those workers a pass to be impaired on the job. That distinction is important, and it’s being made explicit in the statutory language precisely because critics have tried to blur it.
The companion bill, SB 439, passed the Senate 33–11 under sponsorship of Sen. Carl Jackson (D). The House version, carried by Del. Adrian Boafo (D), clears the last legislative hurdle before heading to the governor’s desk.
Who It Affects
The most immediate beneficiaries are Maryland’s approximately 25,000 career and volunteer fire and rescue workers employed by state and local governments — people who work long shifts in high-stress, physically punishing conditions and have higher-than-average rates of chronic pain, PTSD, and anxiety disorders as a result.
Maryland has over 100,000 registered medical cannabis patients statewide. Firefighters and paramedics are among them. Under current law, a firefighter can legally obtain a medical cannabis card on Friday evening and legally use cannabis products at home on Saturday — and still face termination on Monday if an employer drug test catches the metabolites. Cannabis metabolites can remain detectable in urine for weeks, long after any psychoactive effects have passed.
That is the contradiction this bill is designed to eliminate: the state authorized the treatment, the patient followed the law, and the employer punished them for it anyway.
Locally, Howard County adopted a similar ordinance in January 2026. Baltimore County (pop. 854,000), Frederick County (pop. 287,000), and the City of Annapolis have already ended pre-employment cannabis screening for most public employees. HB 797 would extend that logic statewide for the fire and rescue sector.
The Direction
This is an expansion of medical patient rights — and it fits a national pattern of states catching up to the contradiction at the heart of their own medical programs. You can’t tell someone their medicine is legal and then let employers punish them for using it.
Maryland has moved steadily in this direction. The state legalized adult recreational use in 2023. The legislature has advanced cannabis-friendly employment bills before — earlier versions stalled, but not because of strong opposition, more because of procedural timing. The 100–31 House vote and 33–11 Senate margin suggest this iteration had enough runway to actually land.
Nationally, more than 20 states now have some form of cannabis employment protection law, though the breadth varies dramatically. Some only cover medical use. Some only cover hiring decisions. Maryland’s version would be more comprehensive for the specific worker class it targets.
What Happens Next
The bill heads to Governor Mikie Sherrill’s desk. No timeline has been set for signing, but the bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan margins and no visible opposition from the executive branch. Sherrill (D) took office in January 2026 after running on a moderate-progressive platform that included cannabis reform. A veto would be a significant departure from her position and the bill’s trajectory.
If signed, the law would take effect as specified in the bill text. Employers — state agencies and local governments — would need to update their drug screening policies and HR procedures to ensure they do not take adverse action against registered medical cannabis patients solely on the basis of a positive test.
Who’s Behind This
Del. Adrian Boafo (D-Prince George’s County) is the House sponsor and the bill’s primary public voice. His floor statement was direct: firefighters are being forced to choose between their health and their jobs, and the alternative being offered is opioids. That is not a hypothetical — it is what happens in departments where chronic pain goes undertreated. Boafo has worked on this issue across multiple sessions, and the 100–31 vote suggests he finally had the coalition to move it.
Sen. Carl Jackson (D-Prince George’s County) carries the Senate version. His chamber passed it 33–11 — nearly the same ratio as the House. Jackson has been consistent on cannabis worker rights across his tenure.
The firefighters’ unions are the real engine behind this bill. NORML worked closely with them, and multiple county-level successes — Howard County’s January 2026 ordinance being the most recent — gave the statewide push institutional credibility. These aren’t activists lobbying for recreational weed. These are unions representing people who run into burning buildings for a living, asking not to be fired for managing PTSD with a treatment their state said was legal.
The opposition (31 House votes against, 11 in the Senate) has not mounted a public campaign or offered detailed objections beyond general public safety concerns, which the bill explicitly addresses by keeping the on-duty impairment prohibition in place. The margin suggests the objection is ideological — not substantive.
The Bottom Line
Maryland is one signature away from a law that says what should have been obvious from the day the state issued its first medical cannabis card: if you authorized the medicine, you can’t let employers punish patients for using it. The 100–31 vote tells you how defensible the current policy actually is. Firefighters who come to work sober should be able to manage their pain however their doctors and the state have authorized — without their livelihood on the line.
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