How Does Medical Marijuana Mix With a Drug Free Workplace Policy? Medical marijuana and workplace prohibitions of off-hours drug use are both legal in California – and in conflict. The courts define how it works (for now). The prevalence of drug-free workplace policies – about 60 percent of employers nationwide now conduct pre-employment drug screening – has run up against the legalization of medical marijuana, which is now available in a handful of states, including California. So is it possible for someone who is using legally dispensed medical marijuana to be given special dispensation by an employer who routinely prescreen and perform employee drug testing?
Getting to the answer of this question is not easy. Understand that for private employers that are not under large contracts with the state or federal government, the decision to have a drug-free workplace is discretionary. Those employers only need to enforce policies uniformly, regardless of whether they are tolerant or intolerant of off-hours drug usage.
For those employers who maintain a drug-free workplace, the following needs to be considered:
Getting to the answer of this question is not easy. Understand that for private employers that are not under large contracts with the state or federal government, the decision to have a drug-free workplace is discretionary. Those employers only need to enforce policies uniformly, regardless of whether they are tolerant or intolerant of off-hours drug usage.
For those employers who maintain a drug-free workplace, the following needs to be considered:
- Case law upholds testing and terminations – Employers who wish to maintain drug-free workplaces have been sued by employees who use medical marijuana within the terms of California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996. One case rose through appeals process to the state Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled against that employee. The court majority decided the referendum by which the statute was passed did not force employers to accommodate use of marijuana such that firing the employee did not violate public policy.
- Safety matters require concern – Employees who work in safety-critical positions have a responsibility to fellow human beings and their employer to operate vehicles, heavy machinery and even such things as information technology with full faculty. Marijuana use, as with alcohol and many types of pharmaceutical medications, is incompatible with those functions.
- Privacy matters are largely overruled – Initially, all drug testing came under fire from privacy advocates in California. Case law has largely overruled those concerns as well.
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