Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Chillicothe - Karen Pierce's introduction to an Empowering the Workplace session on medical marijuana made before the Ross County Safety Council last week was, in a word, different.
"If you leave here today and you go, 'Oh, I'm kind of confused,' then I've done a really good job," Pierce, of Canal Winchester-based Working Partners, told the group of area employers and business owners in attendance. "This issue, even though now we have something on the books, there's a lot that we don't know yet because there's a lot of infrastructure to be built in Ohio to support this new law. There's a lot we don't know."
The law to which she was referring is House Bill 523, Ohio's medical marijuana legislation that goes into effect in September. At the crux of the 86-page legislation is that it allows a patient, on the recommendation of a physician certified to do so by the State Medical Board of Ohio, to use medical marijuana to treat a qualifying medical condition.
There are 21 qualifying conditions including such things as AIDS, cancer, chronic pain, crohn's disease and others, with the door left open for the addition of more conditions later. The medical marijuana would not be available at pharmacies, but through medical marijuana retail dispensaries that would be issued licenses through the Board of Pharmacy, which would also register patients and caregivers.
The marijuana may be dispensed in oils, tinctures, patches or in edible form and will have regulated THC content. It can't be smoked or used recreationally, but can be vaped, and it may not be grown at an individual's home.
Municipalities and townships have the ability to adopt regulations that would prohibit or limit the number of retail dispensaries in their zoning, and the bill does not allow a cultivator, processor, retail dispensary or lab from locating within 500 feet of a school, church, public library, public playground or public park.
Pierce, whose firm provides drug-free workplace programs and consulting services, told local members of the business community that they had better start thinking about the new law because there are several concerns that are likely to arise and several decisions that will have to be made.
First and foremost is how they will want to handle it in their own workplaces.
"You don't have to accommodate medical use," she said. "You are not required to permit use or possession or distribution. You are not prohibited from refusing to hire someone who tests positive (for marijuana) and you're not prohibited from firing or taking adverse action. You can drug test, even for weed, and you can have a drug-free workplace program and you can even have a zero-tolerance policy that if you test positive for weed, you're gone, I don't care if you have a (doctor's) recommendation or not, you're gone."
The law also states an employer can not be sued for refusing to hire someone, firing someone or taking disciplinary action against someone who tests positive, and a worker who is let go from a job for a positive marijuana test will be ineligible to collect on unemployment or worker's compensation claims.
While, that may seem cut-and-dry on the surface for employers, Pierce said "the devil's in the details." Questions like how will employers define what constitutes being under the influence and what they can and will do if someone using medical marijuana comes forward and says they are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act because they are exercising their rights under state law may pose dilemmas.
In forming their policies, businesses will have to look at the potential impact of allowing medical marijuana use on the overall safety of their workforce, on health, auto and fleet insurance policies they are covered under and on the collective bargaining process.
They also have to consider the fact that the state law bumps up against several federal regulations that could create issues and that whenever something new with as many uncertainties as this legislation comes along, the details are often determined through court cases that require time and money to defend against, she added.
These are difficult decisions for employers facing a shrinking available drug-free labor pool, with positive drug test rates having increased in 2013 and 2014 - the first time ever that has happened in consecutive years.
A growing push toward marijuana legalization across the country and the prescription drug and heroin epidemics are serving to compound the problem. That has led employers into decisions on dropping their drug-related standards to keep good workers and on allowing second chances for positive drug tests rather than firing someone.
Prior to medical marijuana use becoming legal on Sept. 6, Pierce said employers need to follow several best practices to prepare, starting with putting policies in place that are very clear in their definitions and scope, including addressing marijuana use of an employee when they are off the job.
Employee and supervisor training should follow, explaining the law and company policies fully, and drug testing programs should be implemented - random testing, if possible, Pierce suggested.
Finally, companies should know where they can turn for assistance to deal with difficult situations or confusion once the law goes into effect.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Employers Explore Medical Marijuana Concerns
Author: Chris Balusik
Contact: 740-773-2111
Photo Credit: Chris Balusik
Website: Chillocothe Gazette
"If you leave here today and you go, 'Oh, I'm kind of confused,' then I've done a really good job," Pierce, of Canal Winchester-based Working Partners, told the group of area employers and business owners in attendance. "This issue, even though now we have something on the books, there's a lot that we don't know yet because there's a lot of infrastructure to be built in Ohio to support this new law. There's a lot we don't know."
The law to which she was referring is House Bill 523, Ohio's medical marijuana legislation that goes into effect in September. At the crux of the 86-page legislation is that it allows a patient, on the recommendation of a physician certified to do so by the State Medical Board of Ohio, to use medical marijuana to treat a qualifying medical condition.
There are 21 qualifying conditions including such things as AIDS, cancer, chronic pain, crohn's disease and others, with the door left open for the addition of more conditions later. The medical marijuana would not be available at pharmacies, but through medical marijuana retail dispensaries that would be issued licenses through the Board of Pharmacy, which would also register patients and caregivers.
The marijuana may be dispensed in oils, tinctures, patches or in edible form and will have regulated THC content. It can't be smoked or used recreationally, but can be vaped, and it may not be grown at an individual's home.
Municipalities and townships have the ability to adopt regulations that would prohibit or limit the number of retail dispensaries in their zoning, and the bill does not allow a cultivator, processor, retail dispensary or lab from locating within 500 feet of a school, church, public library, public playground or public park.
Pierce, whose firm provides drug-free workplace programs and consulting services, told local members of the business community that they had better start thinking about the new law because there are several concerns that are likely to arise and several decisions that will have to be made.
First and foremost is how they will want to handle it in their own workplaces.
"You don't have to accommodate medical use," she said. "You are not required to permit use or possession or distribution. You are not prohibited from refusing to hire someone who tests positive (for marijuana) and you're not prohibited from firing or taking adverse action. You can drug test, even for weed, and you can have a drug-free workplace program and you can even have a zero-tolerance policy that if you test positive for weed, you're gone, I don't care if you have a (doctor's) recommendation or not, you're gone."
The law also states an employer can not be sued for refusing to hire someone, firing someone or taking disciplinary action against someone who tests positive, and a worker who is let go from a job for a positive marijuana test will be ineligible to collect on unemployment or worker's compensation claims.
While, that may seem cut-and-dry on the surface for employers, Pierce said "the devil's in the details." Questions like how will employers define what constitutes being under the influence and what they can and will do if someone using medical marijuana comes forward and says they are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act because they are exercising their rights under state law may pose dilemmas.
In forming their policies, businesses will have to look at the potential impact of allowing medical marijuana use on the overall safety of their workforce, on health, auto and fleet insurance policies they are covered under and on the collective bargaining process.
They also have to consider the fact that the state law bumps up against several federal regulations that could create issues and that whenever something new with as many uncertainties as this legislation comes along, the details are often determined through court cases that require time and money to defend against, she added.
These are difficult decisions for employers facing a shrinking available drug-free labor pool, with positive drug test rates having increased in 2013 and 2014 - the first time ever that has happened in consecutive years.
A growing push toward marijuana legalization across the country and the prescription drug and heroin epidemics are serving to compound the problem. That has led employers into decisions on dropping their drug-related standards to keep good workers and on allowing second chances for positive drug tests rather than firing someone.
Prior to medical marijuana use becoming legal on Sept. 6, Pierce said employers need to follow several best practices to prepare, starting with putting policies in place that are very clear in their definitions and scope, including addressing marijuana use of an employee when they are off the job.
Employee and supervisor training should follow, explaining the law and company policies fully, and drug testing programs should be implemented - random testing, if possible, Pierce suggested.
Finally, companies should know where they can turn for assistance to deal with difficult situations or confusion once the law goes into effect.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Employers Explore Medical Marijuana Concerns
Author: Chris Balusik
Contact: 740-773-2111
Photo Credit: Chris Balusik
Website: Chillocothe Gazette
