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LJN NewslettersNewsSectionsThe Corporate Counselor

Medical Marijuana

BY Jeffrey S. Shapiro
October 27, 2010

The issue of medical marijuana has been getting a lot of attention lately, particularly following the Obama administration's announcement last fall that it would not raid medical marijuana dispensaries if they were dispensing marijuana in accordance with state law. Since then, the number of dispensaries has exploded in the 14 states that have enacted medical marijuana laws. These states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Several other states are likely to enact similar laws soon. It is estimated that there are more than 300,000 medical marijuana users in the country today.

State Laws vs. Employer Policies

In the employment context, the medical marijuana discussion focuses primarily on the friction between these state laws and employers' drug policies, many of which provide “zero tolerance” for employees (or job applicants) who test positive for marijuana or other illegal drugs. The majority of employers use some form of drug testing as part of their drug policy. This may include a pre-employment drug screen, suspicion-based testing, post-accident testing and/or random testing. One of the primary benefits of refusing to employ anyone who tests positive for illegal drugs, of course, is ensuring that employees are not impaired at the workplace.

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