SLATE: With medical marijuana legal in 23 states and Washington, D.C., there are now millions of card-carrying cannabis users working at companies across the U.S. While four states and the District have legalized recreational marijuana use, pot is still illegal under federal law, and many business owners still subscribe to the plant’s Reefer Madness stigma and don’t want to allow people to smoke on the job. For some of those owners, that can mean getting sued for failing to accommodate an employee who has a medical condition….
The first scenario is when an employee or an applicant innocently asks the question “‘I just wanted to know, would you accommodate my use of medical marijuana?'” “That’s a loaded question because you have to accommodate the underlying disability of the medical condition,” [Attorney Todd] Wulffson says. “But you don’t have to accommodate being stoned at work.”…
When it comes to drug use at work—whether it is an employee with cancer smoking marijuana or one popping Xanax to deal with anxiety—Wulffson suggests you should adopt a simple, straightforward company policy that reads something like this: “We don’t allow the use of, the possession, or being under the influence of any illegal drug in the workplace. ‘Illegal drug’ is defined as ‘the abuse of over-the-counter medication, prescription medication, medical marijuana, and alcohol.”… (more)
