11.16.22 – Business Report
A Louisiana legislative task force held multiple meetings Tuesday to explore and craft recommendations to resolve employment issues concerning medical marijuana.
Three subcommittees of the Employment and Medical Marijuana Task Force convened on Tuesday to discuss a variety of employment issues involving medical marijuana, from employment protections in other states to current testing options, to specific concerns for “safety sensitive” jobs like firefighters and first responders.
Task force members outlined legislation adopted in New Jersey, Indiana, Connecticut, Alabama and other states in recent years to protect employees from discrimination for medical marijuana use, as well as provisions to protect employers.
Kevin Caldwell, a task force member representing the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that Alabama recognizes medical marijuana as medicine, but does not prohibit employers from drug testing, while Arkansas’ protections “do not require employers to accommodate ingestion in a workplace or an employee working under the influence.”
“Our neighbors to the north are just making sure employees are not coming in under the influence, and they’re not ingesting or using their medicine while they’re at work,” Caldwell said. “I think that is language we should most certainly be looking at in recommendations.”