Cannabis users are both considered criminals and protected under federal laws. What a mess. One of the most significant issues surrounding cannabis use, especially in states where medical marijuana is legal, is the ability to use state-sanctioned medical marijuana, which is typically protected under disability laws, but yet can also be punitive as employers are allowed to terminate employees for cannabis use. Another pressing concern is how workers’ compensation activities will be affected by an employee’s medical marijuana use. In this episode of Cannabis Nurse Truths, we continue to review how privacy laws, medical freedom, and workers’ compensation issues all have a significant impact on employers’ workplace policies, and we offer recommendations that employers should begin to consider as cannabis legalization is likely implemented in the near future. EPISODE RESOURCES Anderson, D. M., Hansen, B., & Rees, D.I. (2013). Medical marijuana laws, traffic fatalities, and alcohol consumption. Journal of Law and Economics, 56(2), 333–369. https://docs.iza.org/dp6112.pdf Barnett, G. (2023, July 31). A growing number of companies are dropping marijuana drug testing. WTOP News. https://wtop.com/business-finance/2023/07/a-growing-number-of-companies-drop-marijuana-drug-testing/#:~:text=But%20some%20businesses%20have%20done,looking%20to%20hire%2C%20Clayton%20said Carnide, N., Lee, H., Frone, M.R., Furlan, A.D., & Smith, P.M. (2021). Patterns and correlates of workplace and non-workplace cannabis use among Canadian workers before the legalization of non-medical cannabis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 218, 108386. https://oem.bmj.com/content/oemed/79/12/824.full.pdf Chakraborty, A., Doremus, J., & Stith, S. (2020). The effects of recreational cannabis access on labor markets: Evidence from Colorado. IZA Journal of Labor Economics, 10(1). https://sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/izajole-2021-0005 Dylan, D., & Soltys, J. (2020). Accommodating the unknown: Balancing employee human rights with the employer duty to ensure safety: A Dialogue on Stewart v Elk Valley and the Cannabis Act. Canadian Journal of Human Rights, 9(1), 57. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/canajo9&div=6&id=&page= Hazle, M.C., Hill, K.P., & Westreich, L.M. (2022). Workplace cannabis policies: A moving target. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, 7(1), 16-23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8864412/ Hire Right. (2023, June). Employers Guide to Legalized Marijuana (Medical & Adult Use/Recreational). E-book retrieved from https://www.hireright.com/resources/employers-guide-to-legalized-medical-and-recreational-marijuana Howard, J., Wurzelbacher, S., Osborne, J., Wolf, J., Ruser, J., & Chadarevian, R. (2021). Review of cannabis reimbursement by workers’ compensation insurance in the US and Canada. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 64(12), 989-1001. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajim.23294 Green, C.P, & Paniagua, M.N. (2016). Play hard, shirk hard? The effect of bar hours regulation on worker absence. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, 78(2), 248-264. https://conference.iza.org/conference_files/riskonomics2012/green_c3422.pdf Kelly, J. (2024, June 14). Why workplace absenteeism is on the rise. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/06/14/why-workplace-absenteeism-is-on-the-rise/ Marmot, M.G., North, F., Feeney, A., & Head, J. (1993). Alcohol consumption and sickness absence: From the Whitehall II study. Addiction, 88(3), 369–382. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1993.tb00824.x Martinez, A. (2024, April 29). 2024 Marijuana Legalization Review: A Guide for Employers In A Complex Legal Landscape. Available at https://www.hireright.com/blog/2024-marijuana-legalization-review-a-guide-for-employers-in-a-complex-legal Nicholas, L.H., & Maclean, J.C. (2016). The effect of medical marijuana laws on the health and labor supply of older adults: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study. NBER Working Paper No. 22688. JEL No. I10,I18,J20. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w22688/w22688.pdf Nissen, J. (2023, September 24). Michigan dropping marijuana drug testing for some new-hires on Oct.1. https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/michigan-dropping-marijuana-drug-testing-for-some-new-hires-on-oct-1 Otañez, M. (2021). A labor studies approach to cannabis. In The Routledge Handbook of Post-Prohibition Cannabis Research (pp. 174-182). Routledge. https://cannalib.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Post-Prohibition-Cannabis-Research-2021.pdf#page=195 Paychex. (2019, June 19). More than one-third of business owners not prepared to manage legalized marijuana in the workplace. https://www.paychex.com/newsroom/news-releases/business-owners-not-prepared-to-manage-legalized-marijuana Pearlman, S. (2019, August 15). Illinois' hazy new law legalizing ...
