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Contemporary issues in cannabis' evolving place in overground society….. ….excerpts from one recent piece…..
"The relatively rapid acceptance of marijuana use in the United States has forced lawmakers and employers to grapple with how to adapt. Last month, Nevada passed a bill prohibiting the denial of employment based on a positive test for marijuana. In Maine, employers may not discriminate against people who have used cannabis, and the state has specific rules for drug testing. And under a bill overwhelmingly approved in April by the New York City Council employers will no longer be able to force job applicants to take drug tests for marijuana use."
Some employers have already changed their policies on pre-employment drug screening, and not just to address the dissonance in punishing someone for using a legal substance. With unemployment so low, companies are finding that testing for marijuana adds an unnecessary barrier in hiring top talent.
“With an economy that’s humming along, employers are desperate,” said Jim Reidy, a lawyer in Manchester, N.H., who advises large corporations on drug-testing policies. “If they have these rigid drug and alcohol policies and drug testing at the pre-employment stage, where marijuana was still on one of the panels, they found they were otherwise losing out on qualified candidates.”
Apple, e.g., has changed course. “In general, we have stopped testing most candidates and have never done testing of current employees,” the company said. “We continue to do pre-employment drug testing for a limited number of positions that have a safety risk.”
There is also federal law. Employers with federal contracts or those whose employees are licensed through federal agencies are required to screen job candidates for drugs, including marijuana, which remains a Schedule 1 drug. And Transportation Department rules frequently require companies in the industry to screen for drugs when hiring for safety-sensitive positions.
In a survey conducted in 2011, a year before Colorado and Washington became the first states to pass ballot questions legalizing marijuana for recreational use, the Society for Human Resource Management and the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association found that 57 percent of employers conducted drug tests on all job candidates. In recent years, “more and more companies are dropping marijuana from pre-employment testing,” Mr. Reidy said.
But not all are doing so.
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This is a feature-length article we hope most of you can see. Still, hopefully the excerpt gives you the flavor….
When the Law Says Using Marijuana Is O.K., but the Boss Disagrees
The relatively rapid acceptance of marijuana use in the United States has lawmakers and employers grappling with ways to adjust hiring rules.
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