Pubdate: Mon, 10 Feb 2014
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2014 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Note: Prints only very short LTEs.
Author: Priyanka Dayal Mccluskey

MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD PUT EMPLOYERS IN BIND

The state's new medical marijuana law will force hard choices on 
employers and workers - forcing some to fire medicinal pot users 
while others will have to make tough calls on whether employees' drug 
use is interfering with their work.

Public safety employers such as the Boston Fire Department say it 
won't tolerate pot use, even as medication.

"Boston Fire does conduct random drug and alcohol testing of its 
uniform force," spokesman Steve MacDonald said. "Marijuana use is not allowed."

Meanwhile, Associated Industries of Massachusetts is advising 
businesses not to fire employees just for using medical marijuana, 
even if they fail drug tests - unless they come to work stoned.

"The bottom line for the employer is that people cannot be impaired 
in the workplace," AIM spokesman Chris Geehern said. "If an employer 
becomes aware an employee is using medical marijuana, that in and of 
itself is not grounds for taking any action. The break comes when 
that employee appears to be impaired in the workplace."

Massachusetts and 19 other states allow people with a range of 
medical conditions to use different forms of marijuana as treatment, 
but pot remains illegal under federal law. Signs of drug use in 
public transit workers, truckers and commercial pilots who are tested 
following accidents might also lead to their termination.

"If you're covered by federal DOT drug testing, that's what holds," 
Geehern said.

Kabrina Krebel Chang, an employment law expert at Boston University's 
School of Management, said even with the Bay State's new medical 
marijuana law, employers maintain the right to fire a worker for 
failing a drug test.

"If you're an employee who medicates with marijuana, there are very 
few laws that protect you if you fail your company's drug tests," she said.

Employers, she added, are reluctant to make exceptions to drug 
policies and won't want to be responsible for checking whether their 
workers have authorization to use marijuana.

Partners HealthCare, the largest private employer in Massachusetts, 
with 60,000 workers, has not yet decided how to deal with the issue 
of medical marijuana use among employees, said spokesman Rich Copp.

"Partners HealthCare, like many other employers, is in the early 
stages of evaluating what changes may need to be made to existing HR 
policies. Any revisions to our policies will be made guided by 
appropriate statutes and with the best interests of our patients and 
our employees in mind," Copp said.

Geehern said, "We're urging employers to take this on a case-by-case 
basis. This is all new. They should look at each case separately 
rather than blindly apply a policy."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom