Toking Down Wal-Mart

I've never been a flat-out enemy of Wal-mart.  They provide a lot of products and services to people in this country that might not otherwise be able to afford them - not to mention employment for tens of thousands of Americans. 

But, after this little stunt, I'm more pissed off at them than this guy.  Here's the jist:

A Walmart employee with sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor who was fired for using medical marijuana will not be rehired, even though the company says it is "sympathetic" to his condition.


Joseph Casias, 29, was fired in November from a Walmart store in Battle Creek, Mich., after marijuana was detected in a routine drug screening that he underwent after he sprained his knee at work.


Casias, who was the store's 2008 associate of the year, said he legally used marijuana to reduce pain associated with his disease and was never under the influence while at work.

One might question why exactly someone with an inoperable brain tumor would want to live out their final days working at Wal-Mart when already collecting unemployment benefits, but the dude wants his job back.  And that's all that should matter.  Consider it a final wish if it is indeed a fatal condition. 

If the circumstances aren't fatal, then all the more reason for the need to work and pay for the medicine needed to manage the symptoms (pain, headaches, etc.). 

Whether or not he was under the influence while working is irrelevant to me.  Everyone knows that out of the ten million people shopping Wal-Mart on any given day, 9,874,000 are higher than Doug Benson at 4:20.  The remaining 126,000 people have run into a dry spell, which is probably why they went to Wal-Mart in the first place, hoping to run into an extra "nice" friend.

The company spokesman had this to say:

. . . we have to consider the overall safety of our customers and associates, including Mr. Casias, when making a difficult decision like this."  

Safety of your customers?  What's he going to do?  Block the snack food aisle and shut off the video game consoles?

He's your 2008 Associate of the Year for Christ's sake!  Which is probably directly related to his ability to interact with your patrons with outstanding customer service - he knows and understands your customer base better than you could ever hope to from your boardroom.  Unless of course this boardroom happens to share the same venilation system as the editors' boardroom at High Times. 

Let the Pot Protests commence.  April 20th perhaps?? Throngs of stoners will advance upon the parking lots of Wal-Mart all across the nation . . . oh shit.  Pure genius.  It just occurred to me that they're doing this on purpose.  Why you ask?  Two words: more customers.   

Now that's what I call Grassroots Marketing.