Marijuana and The Work Place
When medical marijuana first became legal in Colorado in 2000, many people never imagined it becoming as big as it has. Not only has medical marijuana laws become more finely tweaked but now recreational marijuana is legal across the state. Although the marijuana industry is growing there are now questions up in the air about how is it going to affect people’s employment and life in the work place.
There are currently no laws against employers not hiring you or firing you if you can’t pass a marijuana drug test. This means that people using medical marijuana or even recreational could lose their job or not get hired because of there out of work marijuana use. Many people are thinking that their needs to be laws put in place to protect those who use marijuana, whether it be for medical purposes or for recreational use.
Many companies are starting to allow use of marijuana as long as it is not used at the work place, and as long as it does not impair the person’s ability to work. However many corporate companies still abide by federal law, stating that since it is illegal federally it is not allowed and if you fail a drug test you can be fired or not hired.
There is currently a case going on in the Colorado Supreme court involving a medical marijuana patient who got fired because he failed to pass a random drug test at work. The man in a wheel chair smokes marijuana to help with spasms he has since being involved in a car accident. He claims that the company is acting unlawfully because they fired him for an activity he was legally doing outside of work. Although no decision has been reached on whether it is allowed or not, when it is reached it can and will define how employers treat people who fail to pass a drug test based on marijuana use.
Nothing is set in stone but as more states legalize the use of medical and/or recreational marijuana more laws will come about stating how employers can and cannot treat those who enjoy the legal plant.
Sources for this blog: http://online.wsj.com/articles/colorado-high-court-to-decide-if-employers-must-allow-marijuana-use-1412103579
