The Drug-Free Workplace vs. Medical Marijuana

According to a recent report on CNBC, medical marijuana is casting a cloud of confusion over Corporate America. Indeed, employers that operate in the 14 states where pot is now legal as a prescription painkiller are struggling to reconcile zero tolerance drug policies with a patient’s right to get high. The matter is more complicated than it sounds.

Human resources managers, for example, are grappling with such questions as whether random drug tests constitute discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, what they are legally allowed to ask job candidates and whether they are required to accommodate after-hours and offsite use of medical marijuana.

“It’s throwing employers for a loop because many have policies in place where testing positive for THC, or Tetrahydrocannabinol (the active ingredient in pot) requires the employee to be terminated or to participate in some sort of treatment program even if it’s not necessary,” says Alison Holcomb, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, in Washington.

In the private sector, at least, companies that are inclined to do so could simply change their drug testing policies, but those that receive federal contracts are required to prohibit the use of marijuana as a condition of participation under the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988. To read more on this important issue, click here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36179669