The Governor signed New York’s Compassionate Care Act, which will permit limited use of medical marijuana by individuals suffering from covered medical conditions, making New York the 23rd state to legalize the use of medical marijuana. Of relevance to…
Posts by Category: Pre-employment Drug Testing
Will Minnesota’s New Medical Marijuana Law Leave Employers High and Dry?
Minnesota became the 22nd state to legalize medical marijuana use and, as part of the new law, to enact new potential employment protections for registered users of medical marijuana. Minnesota’s new marijuana law has already gone into effect, but distribution…
Alcohol Deterrence Tactics: Current Testing Trends and Emerging Technology to Support Sobriety
Substance abuse trends are heading in the wrong direction in the U.S. And if you’re in the criminal justice field you know that the number one drug of abuse in the U.S. is alcohol. Alcohol abuse is often at the heart of the problems criminals have before and…
New Minnesota Medical Cannabis Law Protects Employees From Discrimination for Medical Marijuana Use
Minnesota’s new Medical Cannabis Act differs from many other state medical marijuana laws in that it narrows the kind of medical cannabis permitted. It also offers considerable protections to applicants and employees in the workplace. The law does not cover…
Legalized Marijuana and Workplace Testing
With increasingly relaxed attitudes toward marijuana legalization in the United States, some employers are evaluating their drug screening protocols and wondering if it is time for a change. While most employers in the state agree they do not want to create work…
Five Things Every Arizona Employer Should Know About Medical Marijuana
1. Employers are prohibited from disciplining an employee or refusing to hire a job applicant as a result of authorized medical marijuana use. 2. Employers cannot discipline or refuse to hire an authorized medical marijuana user because the individual tests positive…
Little Reduction in Longer-Term Opioid Use in Most States
A new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found that there was little reduction in the prevalence of longer-term opioid use in most states studied. In most states, the percentage of claims with opioids that received opioids on a longer-term…
Reefer Madness Redux? What to Do Now That Illinois Has Legalized Medical Marijuana?
Effective January 1, 2014, Illinois became the 20th state to legalize medical marijuana. But the passage of this law has created concerns for employers. The Illinois Compassionate use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act enacted a pilot program that is scheduled to…
When U.S. Companies Drug Test, They Wind Up Hiring More Black People
Abigail Wozniak, a labor economist, has developed a model to show how the rise of employee drug testing in the U.S. has affected different populations. Where testing is prevalent, black employment increased between 7% and 30%, and wages for black workers increased by…
Colorado High Court to Rule on Rocky Mountain High
The issue of medical marijuana continues to make news in Colorado. Earlier this year, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of the 2013 Colorado Court of Appeals ruling in Coats v. Dish Network, which analyzed the relationship between Colorado’s…