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…
Posts by Category: Pre-employment Drug Testing
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…
Workplace Drug Testing in the Era of Legal Marijuana
The passage of public ballot and legislative initiatives has resulted in medical marijuana laws in 23 states and the District of Columbia and approval of legal recreational use of marijuana by adults in Colorado and Washington in 2012, and in Alaska, Oregon, and the…
Federal Government Study Shows Persistent Substance Abuse In U.S. Workforce
Data from the SAMHSA study for the 2008-2012 periods indicated that an annual average of 8.7% of full-time workers in the 18-64 age range used alcohol heavily in the past month, 8.6% used illicit drugs in the past month, and 9.5% were dependent on or abused alcohol or…
Marijuana in the Workplace
Colorado and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia, have enacted laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Those jurisdictions and twenty-one other states have also legalized the use of medical marijuana. Meanwhile, U.S. Code still outlaws the use…
What Will Legal Marijuana Cost Employers?
Some 23 states have legalized medical marijuana, four plus the District of Columbia have legalized the drug for recreational use. This growth in the marijuana industry creates two sets of problems for employers: increased marijuana use – and all the costs this…
Nevada’s Medical Marijuana Law Takes Effect April 1, 2014
Nevada’s medical marijuana law, Nevada SB 374, explicitly states that it does not “require any employer to allow the medical use of marijuana in the workplace.” However, the law further states that it does not “require an employer to modify the…
Drug Testing Index™ Reports Drug Use Among American Workers Declined 74% Over the Past 25 Years, Finds Unprecedented Analysis of More Than 125 Million Workplace Urine Tests
Drug use among American workers declined dramatically over the past 25 years, although the rate of positive test results for certain drugs, including amphetamine and opiates, continues to climb, according to a landmark analysis of workplace drug test results released…
Pre-Offer Drug Tests Violated Americans with Disabilities Act
Pre-offer drug tests to determine the use of both legal and illegal drugs violated the Americans with Disabilities Act’s prohibition on pre-offer medical inquiries, a federal court in Pennsylvania held on March 6, 2014. EEOC v. Grane Healthcare Co. and Ebensburg…