Thousands of Illinoisans have applied for permission under the state’s medical marijuana pilot program to use the drug to treat debilitating pain and illness.
Without getting into the moot debate over whether marijuana should be allowed for those suffering from such things as arthritis, glaucoma, chronic post-operative pain or one of 42 other life-robbing ailments — or the bigger debate about whether states should allow recreational use of marijuana — there is an issue that must be addressed: marijuana in the workplace.
Many employers — public and private — maintain zero-tolerance rules against substance use or abuse, whether it involves alcohol or drugs, both prescription and non-prescription alike.
Although the state might make the use of marijuana legal in some cases, businesses are under no obligation to change their own rules. In many instances, doing so would put them in conflict with such provisions as the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 or Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines. Companies that change their guidelines about drug use in or out of the office could lose government contracts. Marijuana use, despite state momentum to legalize it to varying degrees, remains illegal in the eyes of the federal government.
States such as Rhode Island have tried to amend the law and prohibit employers from punishing medical marijuana users, but the courts have routinely upheld the rights of businesses to set their own policies.
That means companies can discipline or even fire those who have drugs in their system. The problem is that most drug tests, especially the standard urine test, don’t show a difference between legitimate and illegal use and to create separate standards could open employers up to legal action.
Not to mention that the business would be culpable for an employee whose on-the-job performance or decision-making was affected by drug use. Imagine a pilot or a doctor who made a mistake that resulted in death or injury to others while using prescription or non-prescription drugs.
Some places are reaffirming their stance against marijuana use. Peoria County commissioners will vote next month on whether to accept a committee recommendation to continue its ban on marijuana use, including medicinal. Expect others to do the same in coming months.
Is this the best approach? There is no easy answer. The recreational use of marijuana — and there are an estimated 15 million Americans who say they partake of the drug to some extent — is one thing. The medical use of marijuana is another matter all together.
Existing laws make little differentiation between the two, which seems to be a Catch 22 for users.
Yet companies should be able to set policies best-suited to their own needs and responsibilities to protect other workers and customers.
////---//
http://rt.com/usa/234903-marij...
"Marijuana may be even safer than previously thought, researchers say"
"Marijuana may be even safer than previously thought, researchers say New study: We should stop fighting marijuana legalization and focus on alcohol and tobacco instead By Christopher Ingraham February 23
Compared with other recreational drugs — including alcohol — marijuana may be even safer than previously thought. And researchers may be systematically underestimating risks associated with alcohol use.
Those are the top-line findings of recent research published in the journal Scientific Reports, a subsidiary of Nature. Researchers sought to quantify the risk of death associated with the use of a variety of commonly used substances. They found that at the level of individual use, alcohol was the deadliest substance, followed by heroin and cocaine."