Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
To get a job at Woodworkers Source, potential employees must pass a drug test.
There's a good reason for that, said Keith Stephens, owner of the Scottsdale-based lumber-supply business: "Many, many businesses, including mine, have a certain element of risk. In my case it's driving a forklift loaded with heavy material and being in the shop with chop saws," said Stephens, 72, of Paradise Valley.
If Arizona voters legalize marijuana for recreational use through a ballot measures poised to appear on the November ballot, Stephens worries it would become more difficult to find qualified workers.
Stephens, who employs more than 30 people and whose company did $6 million in sales last year, is part of what is quickly becoming a united front of businesses, CEOs and commerce and tourism groups against legalizing the drug that is still prohibited by federal law.
In addition to making it more difficult to recruit workers, they argue legalization could lead to increased workplace-safety problems, higher worker-compensation costs and reduced productivity and make Arizona less appealing for prospective employers.
"I don't want them hurt ... I don't want the liability," Stephens said of his employees, "and I want them to be able to properly take care of our customers."
Regulating marijuana like alcohol
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol proposes to set up a system to regulate and tax cannabis. Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia have already legalized recreational marijuana. The campaign has submitted 258,582 signatures to state election officials in an effort to qualify for the ballot; officials are working to verify the campaign has gathered enough valid signatures even as some opponents filed suit this week to keep it off the ballot.
Under the proposed Arizona initiative, adults 21 and older could carry up to 1 ounce of marijuana, grow plants in their homes and buy marijuana from licensed stores.
The initiative does not authorize employees to work while impaired, nor does it require employers to allow possession or consumption of marijuana at work. Currently, employers are allowed to observe impairment and record it before they terminate or discipline employees for suspected marijuana use. Under the measure, employers would be allowed to maintain drug-free policies.
But the measure provides no standards for what constitutes impairment by marijuana. And state law also offers no standard.
"It purports to 'regulate marijuana like alcohol,' but the problem is you can test for alcohol with a breathalyzer ... but you can't do marijuana the same way," said Julie Pace, an employment attorney. "For marijuana, it's not like there's a certain limit, or a cut-off (for impairment) ... because it stays in the system for so long."
Complicating any effort to create such a definition is the fact that marijuana metabolites can remain in users' systems for weeks after the marijuana high wears off.
"It's not like there's a certain limit or a cut-off and HR knows what to do, because it stays in the system for so long," Pace said, making it difficult for employers to determine level of impairment while at work.
She offered an example: This week she got a call from a Phoenix company asking whether it could reject a newly hired forklift driver who tested positive for marijuana. Based on the test, it was difficult to determine when the employee last used marijuana.
"That's the problem," Pace said.
Concerns 'far-fetched'
But J.P. Holyoak, chairman of the pro-legalization campaign, said business' concerns are "far-fetched" and accused the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which has railed against legalization, of stoking fears.
Holyoak pointed to last year's Colorado Supreme Court ruling that said a business could fire an employee for using medical marijuana - even when not on the clock and adhering to state law.
Holyoak also noted that Forbes in 2015 named Denver the best in the country for business climate, touting a diverse economy and educated workforce. He added the initiative does not affect employers' drug-testing policies.
"If an employer has a zero tolerance (for drugs), that is fine," Holyoak said. "If employers want a drug test, great, that's an employer's right to do that."
He added: "To say that this is going to be some type of a huge problem, when we have another state almost next door to us and we've never heard of it being an issue, seems like a far-fetched idea to me."
Colorado reported 15.2 percent of residents 18 and older had used marijuana in the past 30 days, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which relied on data from 2013 and 2014. That's up from prior-year data, where usage was 12.9 percent.
A survey released by drug-testing company Quest Diagnostics in 2014 found Colorado's marijuana-positivity test rates increased 20 percent between 2012 and 2013 while Washington's increased 23 percent. That's compared with the 5 percent average increase among the U.S. general workforce in all 50 states, according to the company. Both states were experiencing increases in marijuana-positivity rates before legalization at the end of 2012, according to the company said.
Businesses see concerns
Steve Sanghi, chairman and CEO of Chandler-based Microchip Technology Inc., said legalization would be detrimental to Arizona's workforce and society overall. Sanghi said his company employs about 2,000 people in Arizona and 14,000 worldwide.
The company operates a facility in Colorado Springs, and he said "the management there is continually reporting large number of problems with the employees," namely failed drug tests, productivity and absenteeism.
"I would never move my business from Arizona to Colorado today and wouldn't expand the business in Colorado because of the problems they're having," Sanghi said. "If Arizona passes this law, that would be a significant problem, then we'll become anti-Arizona and we wouldn't expand our manufacturing presence here."
Mark Minter, executive director of the Arizona Builders Alliance, said his members are concerned about safety issues, particularly in an industry where it's critical to be alert and sober while on the job.
"We're concerned about increased use in the workforce, we're concerned about being able to run a drug- and alcohol-free workplace so that people are safe and people don't get injured, or killed or maimed in the workplace."
Also, members who do work for the federal government are required to comply with federal regulations, which include maintaining drug-free workplaces.
Funding an opposition
Those concerns are fueling opposition efforts from the business community. Opponents, led by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, have raised more than $640,000 for their efforts. Donors include Randy Kendrick, wife of Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick; U Haul; and homebuilders.
Sanghi said his company donated $25,000 to the anti-legalization campaign after getting a "personal call from" Republican Gov. Doug Ducey about the measure.
Marijuana-legalization supporters, meanwhile, have raised about $2.2 million for their effort. Their funding relies largely on the Marijuana Policy Project - which has worked to legalize marijuana in states across the country - and medical marijuana dispensaries and other businesses that would reap the financial benefits of recreational legalization.
"We've seen quite a bit from the construction industry ... as well as the agricultural industry," Holyoak said, adding that some tourism-related businesses also support the measure.
If marijuana is legalized for recreational use in Arizona, restaurant owner Len Combs said he will treat potential impairment of marijuana the same way he would alcohol or any other substance.
"If they get out of work after 5, and get high or drunk, there's nothing I can do to stop that - if it's legal, it's legal," Combs said. "Do I want it in the workplace? No. But I don't want alcohol in the workplace, either."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Why Businesses Oppose Marijuana Legalization In Arizona
Author: Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
Contact: 602-444-8000
Photo Credit: AP
Website: The Arizona Republic
There's a good reason for that, said Keith Stephens, owner of the Scottsdale-based lumber-supply business: "Many, many businesses, including mine, have a certain element of risk. In my case it's driving a forklift loaded with heavy material and being in the shop with chop saws," said Stephens, 72, of Paradise Valley.
If Arizona voters legalize marijuana for recreational use through a ballot measures poised to appear on the November ballot, Stephens worries it would become more difficult to find qualified workers.
Stephens, who employs more than 30 people and whose company did $6 million in sales last year, is part of what is quickly becoming a united front of businesses, CEOs and commerce and tourism groups against legalizing the drug that is still prohibited by federal law.
In addition to making it more difficult to recruit workers, they argue legalization could lead to increased workplace-safety problems, higher worker-compensation costs and reduced productivity and make Arizona less appealing for prospective employers.
"I don't want them hurt ... I don't want the liability," Stephens said of his employees, "and I want them to be able to properly take care of our customers."
Regulating marijuana like alcohol
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol proposes to set up a system to regulate and tax cannabis. Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia have already legalized recreational marijuana. The campaign has submitted 258,582 signatures to state election officials in an effort to qualify for the ballot; officials are working to verify the campaign has gathered enough valid signatures even as some opponents filed suit this week to keep it off the ballot.
Under the proposed Arizona initiative, adults 21 and older could carry up to 1 ounce of marijuana, grow plants in their homes and buy marijuana from licensed stores.
The initiative does not authorize employees to work while impaired, nor does it require employers to allow possession or consumption of marijuana at work. Currently, employers are allowed to observe impairment and record it before they terminate or discipline employees for suspected marijuana use. Under the measure, employers would be allowed to maintain drug-free policies.
But the measure provides no standards for what constitutes impairment by marijuana. And state law also offers no standard.
"It purports to 'regulate marijuana like alcohol,' but the problem is you can test for alcohol with a breathalyzer ... but you can't do marijuana the same way," said Julie Pace, an employment attorney. "For marijuana, it's not like there's a certain limit, or a cut-off (for impairment) ... because it stays in the system for so long."
Complicating any effort to create such a definition is the fact that marijuana metabolites can remain in users' systems for weeks after the marijuana high wears off.
"It's not like there's a certain limit or a cut-off and HR knows what to do, because it stays in the system for so long," Pace said, making it difficult for employers to determine level of impairment while at work.
She offered an example: This week she got a call from a Phoenix company asking whether it could reject a newly hired forklift driver who tested positive for marijuana. Based on the test, it was difficult to determine when the employee last used marijuana.
"That's the problem," Pace said.
Concerns 'far-fetched'
But J.P. Holyoak, chairman of the pro-legalization campaign, said business' concerns are "far-fetched" and accused the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which has railed against legalization, of stoking fears.
Holyoak pointed to last year's Colorado Supreme Court ruling that said a business could fire an employee for using medical marijuana - even when not on the clock and adhering to state law.
Holyoak also noted that Forbes in 2015 named Denver the best in the country for business climate, touting a diverse economy and educated workforce. He added the initiative does not affect employers' drug-testing policies.
"If an employer has a zero tolerance (for drugs), that is fine," Holyoak said. "If employers want a drug test, great, that's an employer's right to do that."
He added: "To say that this is going to be some type of a huge problem, when we have another state almost next door to us and we've never heard of it being an issue, seems like a far-fetched idea to me."
Colorado reported 15.2 percent of residents 18 and older had used marijuana in the past 30 days, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which relied on data from 2013 and 2014. That's up from prior-year data, where usage was 12.9 percent.
A survey released by drug-testing company Quest Diagnostics in 2014 found Colorado's marijuana-positivity test rates increased 20 percent between 2012 and 2013 while Washington's increased 23 percent. That's compared with the 5 percent average increase among the U.S. general workforce in all 50 states, according to the company. Both states were experiencing increases in marijuana-positivity rates before legalization at the end of 2012, according to the company said.
Businesses see concerns
Steve Sanghi, chairman and CEO of Chandler-based Microchip Technology Inc., said legalization would be detrimental to Arizona's workforce and society overall. Sanghi said his company employs about 2,000 people in Arizona and 14,000 worldwide.
The company operates a facility in Colorado Springs, and he said "the management there is continually reporting large number of problems with the employees," namely failed drug tests, productivity and absenteeism.
"I would never move my business from Arizona to Colorado today and wouldn't expand the business in Colorado because of the problems they're having," Sanghi said. "If Arizona passes this law, that would be a significant problem, then we'll become anti-Arizona and we wouldn't expand our manufacturing presence here."
Mark Minter, executive director of the Arizona Builders Alliance, said his members are concerned about safety issues, particularly in an industry where it's critical to be alert and sober while on the job.
"We're concerned about increased use in the workforce, we're concerned about being able to run a drug- and alcohol-free workplace so that people are safe and people don't get injured, or killed or maimed in the workplace."
Also, members who do work for the federal government are required to comply with federal regulations, which include maintaining drug-free workplaces.
Funding an opposition
Those concerns are fueling opposition efforts from the business community. Opponents, led by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, have raised more than $640,000 for their efforts. Donors include Randy Kendrick, wife of Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick; U Haul; and homebuilders.
Sanghi said his company donated $25,000 to the anti-legalization campaign after getting a "personal call from" Republican Gov. Doug Ducey about the measure.
Marijuana-legalization supporters, meanwhile, have raised about $2.2 million for their effort. Their funding relies largely on the Marijuana Policy Project - which has worked to legalize marijuana in states across the country - and medical marijuana dispensaries and other businesses that would reap the financial benefits of recreational legalization.
"We've seen quite a bit from the construction industry ... as well as the agricultural industry," Holyoak said, adding that some tourism-related businesses also support the measure.
If marijuana is legalized for recreational use in Arizona, restaurant owner Len Combs said he will treat potential impairment of marijuana the same way he would alcohol or any other substance.
"If they get out of work after 5, and get high or drunk, there's nothing I can do to stop that - if it's legal, it's legal," Combs said. "Do I want it in the workplace? No. But I don't want alcohol in the workplace, either."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Why Businesses Oppose Marijuana Legalization In Arizona
Author: Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
Contact: 602-444-8000
Photo Credit: AP
Website: The Arizona Republic
