San Antonio firefighter and paramedic Zachary Crumley says he was effectively pushed out of the San Antonio Fire Department after a positive THC test, even though he holds a prescription through Texas' Compassionate Use Program. The firefighters union argues he was given an impossible choice: stop taking legally prescribed medicine or lose his job. City officials respond that Crumley was evaluated and ultimately found "not fit for duty" under the department's fitness-for-duty rules.
Union Threatens Lawsuit
The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association held a news conference calling for Crumley's reinstatement and warned it will seek arbitration or take the city to court if that does not happen, according to KSAT. Union leaders told reporters they see Crumley's situation as part of a broader pattern and pledged to use every available remedy to protect members who have Compassionate Use prescriptions.
Timeline: Tests, Evaluations and Leave
Union officials shared a timeline that starts with Crumley taking a random drug test on Nov. 21. They say he immediately presented documentation showing his state prescription but was still placed on administrative leave on Dec. 8 and sent for an evaluation by a medical reviewer on Dec. 11. The San Antonio Express-News reports that a second test on Jan. 20 also showed THC, that Crumley used up his paid leave, and that Fire Chief Valerie Frausto accepted his resignation on May 22. "The position they put me in was clear - stop taking your prescribed medication or you cannot return to work," Crumley told the paper.
Texas Rules for Medical Cannabis
Texas' Compassionate Use Program allows registered physicians to prescribe low-THC cannabis products for certain qualifying conditions, under the oversight of the Texas Department of Public Safety. As the Department of Public Safety explains, prescriptions are entered into the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas and dispensing is tightly limited to low-THC formulations. Legal summaries note that Texas has not created employment protections for medical cannabis patients, so a positive drug test can still lead to discipline or removal from safety-sensitive positions even when a valid prescription exists, according to LegalClarity.
Where Courts Have Gone
How Crumley's dispute plays out could turn on the language in union contracts, the medical evaluations and whether arbitrators or judges decide to defer to fitness-for-duty rules in safety-sensitive jobs. In a separate recent case, an appellate panel in New Jersey ruled that officers who used regulated cannabis off duty should not have been fired, a reminder that different state laws and local policies can lead to very different outcomes, as reported by New Jersey 101.5.
What’s Next
The union says it plans to pursue arbitration or litigation to try to get Crumley back on the job and to push the city to spell out clearer rules for how Compassionate Use patients are handled in safety-sensitive roles. City officials maintain they followed the department's fitness-for-duty process and say their first obligation is to public safety and firefighter safety. Any formal grievance or lawsuit would test whether a municipal fitness-for-duty determination can legally override a state medical prescription. As reported by the San Antonio Express-News, union leaders say this is at least the fifth case they know of in which Compassionate Use patients were treated as disqualified in practice.
