Medical Marijuana Cards

“I found an employee smoking marijuana outside during her break. When I asked what was going on, Jane said it was legal because she has a medical marijuana card. This just doesn’t seem right.”

My HR Survival Tip

Jane’s medical marijuana card gives her the legal right to buy, have in her possession, and use a certain amount of marijuana in California. She probably believes this overrides everything else… and she’d be wrong.

medical marijuanaWhile California and several other states have legalized marijuana, the federal government has not. This means marijuana is still considered an illegal drug by the feds. If you have a drug policy that doesn’t allow use of illegal drugs, you can enforce it even with Jane’s medical marijuana card.

The tricky part is the “under the influence” component because Jane might try to argue she wasn’t under the influence while working… yet a drug screen in the next day or two is likely to have a positive result. Unlike alcohol, there aren’t (yet) different levels of “under the influence” for marijuana and it stays in your system for days. When tested, any amount remaining in Jane’s system could have a positive test result and lead to immediate termination of her employment.

You might not object to someone smoking marijuana during non-working hours but you must think through the risk you have as a business owner. If Jane has a position in which operating equipment (or a car) is required or the safety of others is involved and an accident happens, your risk has risen considerably when they discover Jane was legally considered to be under the influence when the accident happened.

If Jane admits to you she uses marijuana due to a serious illness (such as cancer), consult an attorney about the potential need for an accommodation. Medical marijuana cards aren’t difficult to obtain so most of the reasons employees use marijuana will not require an accommodation but don’t just brush it off.

You’ll save time and energy if you update your drug policy to specifically include medical marijuana and what happens when a drug test is positive.

 

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