Pubdate: Tue, 15 Dec 2015
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2015 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz

POT RULES AT WORK GET MORE RESTRICTIVE

The push to legalize marijuana is not causing bosses to mellow out. 
More than a third of employers that have modified their drug policies 
in response to new pot laws have made them more restrictive, 
according to a survey released Monday by the Society for Human 
Resources Management.

Employers in states where recreational and medical marijuana is 
permitted seem to have drawn the hardest line. Eighty-two percent of 
respondents there say marijuana use at work is not permitted for any 
reason, compared with 73 percent who say so in states where only 
medical marijuana is legal.

In medical marijuana states, 22 percent of employers have exceptions 
for medical cannabis use in their drug policies, while only 11 
percent of employers have medical exceptions in states where 
recreational use is also permitted, according to the survey.

The group surveyed 623 human resources professionals in 19 states 
that have legalized medical marijuana and four states, plus the 
District of Columbia, where both medical and recreational pot is legal.

In Illinois, where dispensaries started selling cannabis to medical 
patients last month, the law states employers can't discriminate 
against employees for having a patient card, but it does allow them 
to implement zero-tolerance drug policies, including terminating 
people if they test positive for pot. Marijuana remains illegal under 
federal law.

Most respondents to the survey said their drug policies existed prior 
to legalization, and they have not made changes since. But 29 percent 
of respondents in recreational pot states and 16 percent in medical 
marijuana states say they have modified their policies.

Of those, 37 percent say they have made their drug policies more 
restrictive, while 12 percent said they have made them less so.

Five percent of companies in states where only medical marijuana is 
legal said they plan to tighten their policies in the next year, and 
another 5 percent said they plan to make them more accommodating.

Job seekers who think their weed use is protected under state law may 
be in for a reality check. Thirty-two percent of respondents in 
medical marijuana states, and 38 percent in states where recreational 
weed is also legal, say they don't hire medical or recreational marijuana users.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom