By Romy Ellenbogen
Tampa Bay Times
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Hillsborough County firefighter paramedic who was fired for medical marijuana use may soon take his case to the Florida Supreme Court.
His push to save his job comes as the federal government takes a softer stance on medical marijuana — something his attorney and advocates say Florida must catch up to.
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In 2019, Hillsborough County put paramedic Angelo Giambrone on unpaid administrative leave after he tested positive for marijuana.
Giambrone sued Hillsborough County for discrimination, saying his doctor recommended medical marijuana for PTSD, anxiety and sleep disorder issues. Judge Melissa Polo agreed with him in December 2024, ruling that the county had to accommodate employees who test positive for marijuana if their use was medical.
But judges on the Second District Court of Appeal disagreed. In an order issued last Wednesday, Judge Suzanne Labrit wrote that even if a medical marijuana card “resembles a prescription in function or appearance,” it doesn’t actually play the part under Hillsborough’s collective bargaining agreement for fire rescue employees.
The court emphasized that its decision is narrow and affects only Hillsborough County and the firefighters’ bargaining agreement.
Giambrone plans to appeal the decision to the Florida Supreme Court, his attorney Michael Minardi said.
“I think the glaring thing that they didn’t recognize is that the Department of Health did not suspend, revoke or take away his license to be a paramedic,” Minardi said. “He still has the ability, despite his medical use, to be able to administer life-saving care to people that he came across in his position.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office offered an amicus brief in the case. It said the state has a “profound interest” in ensuring EMTs and paramedics stay drug-free.
“Floridians deserve to know that the people charged with saving their lives will not only respect federal law but also refrain from voluntarily impairing their cognitive abilities during their terms of service,” the attorney general’s office wrote in its brief.
Uthmeier, when he was Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff, led a political committee that fought against a proposal for recreational marijuana. That committee received millions of dollars from a state Medicaid settlement that moved through the state’s Hope Florida Foundation.
Uthmeier’s office said nothing in Florida law requires employers to accommodate an employee’s violation of federal law.
But the federal government recently moved to reclassify medical marijuana products as a Schedule III substance, acknowledging that marijuana has acceptable medical uses and a lower risk for dependence, unlike Schedule I drugs, which have no accepted medical use.
Minardi said he thinks there’s no basis to deny Giambrone’s return to work now that medical marijuana has been reclassified on a federal level. Hillsborough County, though, won’t change its policy, he said.
In a statement, the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue union said it supports a zero-tolerance policy for on-duty impairment. But it said firefighters shouldn’t be punished for physician-authorized off-duty medical treatment, “especially when that treatment may help improve sleep, reduce alcohol/stimulant dependence, and address the psychological trauma that too often accompanies a career in emergency services.”
“The conversation should be about fitness for duty, non-addictive treatments for sleep disorders/fatigue/PTSD and the mental health challenges of first responders,” Tim Pearson, the president of Local 2294, said in a statement.
Jodi James, the president of the Florida Cannabis Action Network, said it’s time for Florida law to reflect the recent federal change in how medical marijuana is classified.
“It is no longer a question whether we have a right to use this as medicine. We do,” she said. “I think it’s certainly time for Florida law to catch up.”
Would your department’s policies allow a firefighter to return to work after using physician-authorized medical marijuana off duty?
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