WITH LEGALIZATION ON WAY, LOCAL EMPLOYERS UPDATE DRUG POLICIES
With legal availability looming, employers update drug policies.
With just over a year to go before medical marijuana becomes legally available in Ohio, employers are already updating their drug policies to cover workers on the job.
Traditionally, company drug and alcohol policies have prohibited anyone from having illegal drugs like marijuana in their system. But what happens when that drug becomes legal?
Many manufacturers have adopted zero-tolerance policies that prohibit medical marijuana use, even at home and on weekends. Ross McGregor, executive vice president of Pentaflex, a metal stamping company in Springfield, said safety is his number one concern.
“I can’t risk having somebody coming out on the shop floor impaired and operating this type of equipment or driving a tow truck. Other employers, particularly manufacturers have been very vocal about that when the discussions were going on about the legislation,” McGregor said.
To help the controversial bill win maximum support in the Republican dominated legislature, the sponsor, Rep. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, put as much employer protection into the bill as possible.
“The basic message (in the bill) was it is up to each individual employer and they can choose if they will recognize medical marijuana as a medicine or continue as drug-free. It is totally up to them and gives them the ability to choose. To me it all comes down to the workplace policy. Either way they need to have a firm policy and stick by it in every individual workplace,” Huffman said.
The bill passed and was signed into law by Gov. John Kasich, taking effect on Sept. 8, 2016. It started a two-year timeline of preparations by the newly-created Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program. Companies began their preparations by updating their policies in anticipation of the Sept. 8, 2018 start of medical marijuana sales in Ohio.
Government agencies have begun preparing their policies as well. The Montgomery County commissioners employ 1,767 people in about two dozen agencies. Those agencies include a wide variety of focus, from Children’s Services, which supports foster care for children and investigates child abuse, to Environmental Services, which provides water and sewer to homes and businesses in the region.
Since passage of the Medical Marijuana law, the county has updated its “Alcohol and DrugFree Workplace Policy.”