That's why firefighters in San Antonio wanted to ban marijuana from drug tests

The tentative labor agreement between the city of San Antonio and the firefighters union that negotiators reached Friday night does not address a drug testing rule that many firefighters wanted to change.

During a lengthy negotiating session Friday, the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association withdrew its proposal to remove marijuana metabolites, also known as tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, or THCA, from the list of drugs for which the department randomly tests all firefighters and emergency medical technicians throughout the year.

City negotiators strongly opposed that proposal, and the union gave in. They did, however, sign a tentative agreement for the drug and alcohol section of the contract that states that firefighters who test positive will not be disciplined if they can prove it has no impact on anyone's safety and that their marijuana use is permitted under Texas' compassionate use exemption.

“It's a small step,” said union president Joe Jones. “It's an incremental improvement in the right direction – at least we're trying to make progress.”

The original proposal to remove marijuana from the list entirely was not intended to allow firefighters and paramedics to “get high,” he said.

Many firefighters want to be able to use legal cannabidiol (CBD) products in Texas to treat chronic pain, inflammation and other job-related ailments.

It's a job that demands a lot from firefighters, who are essentially “tactical athletes,” Jones said.

The problem is that some of these hemp-derived consumer products and topicals are contaminated with illegal substances like THCA and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). These ingredients get you high—and can cause you to fail a urine test.

“The deterioration of the human body in the firefighting profession is significant. … Find a firefighter or a paramedic who doesn't have back problems and you've just found a unicorn,” Jones said. “We have members who are suffering and they – like me – don't want to use the CBD oil because they don't want to [test positive].”

Positive THC tests are “not common,” he said, but at least one firefighter – who has a humanitarian prescription – tested positive for THC earlier this year.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, CBD has the greatest proven benefits for children with epilepsy syndromes. At the same time, “animal studies and self-reported and human research suggest that CBD may also help with” other conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia and addiction.

The punishment for a firefighter or paramedic who tests positive on a drug test is an unpaid suspension of up to 30 days and a form of rehabilitation. A second positive test can lead to termination.

Although more than half of all Americans live in a state that legalizes recreational marijuana use, Texas is not one of them.

“Marijuana is still a prohibited substance,” said Liz Provencio, the city's first assistant district attorney and a member of the city's collective bargaining team. The city wants to “retain the ability to test for these illegal substances, regardless of how they were originally obtained.”

Compassionate Use in Texas

Several fire departments across the country have removed the drug from testing and disciplinary processes – mostly in states that have legalized medical or recreational use – but including the Austin Fire Department.

According to the Austin Monitor, Austin last year agreed to a contract that would end random drug testing and post-accident drug testing and prohibit disciplinary action for prescribed cannabis use. In San Antonio, the firefighters' union proposed keeping marijuana in post-accident and reasonable suspicion testing, but removing marijuana from random testing.

The use or possession of marijuana is still illegal in the state, but there are limited exceptions for compassionate use of “low-THC” cannabis for acute diagnoses, including seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, autism, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and incurable neurodegenerative diseases.

To enable compassionate use, the city proposed reviewing positive THC tests on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the person has a valid compassionate use prescription for THC and whether consumption is consistent with their safety-related obligations, Provencio said.

Some firefighters may be eligible for compassionate use, but that doesn't help most firefighters whose illness isn't serious enough to warrant a prescription, Jones says.

And many union members are suspicious of city government decisions – a distrust that stems from more than a decade of back-and-forth litigation and disputes involving previous firefighter unions and city governments, he added.

“There is still this institutional mistrust that we are trying to overcome,” Jones said.

Both sides have always agreed that “the safety of firefighters, paramedics and the public comes first,” Provencio said.

“In our opinion, the continuation of sample testing [for marijuana] will best achieve this,” she said.

Changing the rules would not have resulted in “stoner firefighters,” Jones said. “We're not interested in that because our lives are at stake. … We're hanging out on the water line right next to these people. So that's not what it's about. It's about our ability to do our jobs effectively for extended periods of time.”

While this issue is important, for most firefighters the pay increase is the top priority, Jones said.

Marijuana ultimately didn't make it.

The tentative deal, which still needs to be ratified by the union and approved by the City Council in September, would give firefighters and EMTs a 20% pay raise across the board – a 7% increase in fiscal year 2025, followed by another 8% in 2026 and 5% in 2027.

That's why firefighters in San Antonio wanted to ban marijuana from drug tests

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That's why firefighters in San Antonio wanted to ban marijuana from drug tests

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