Since Marijuana is legal in washington and colorado...

[Jester]

does anyone know how this affects workers? this is a conversation i have heard dozens of times and have wondered how it would work. So if you have a job and smoke a joint after work every night(like beer drinkers), do you get in trouble for a drug test or anything like that? wanting actually knowledge, not speculation.

[CJ]

does anyone know how this affects workers? this is a conversation i have heard dozens of times and have wondered how it would work. So if you have a job and smoke a joint after work every night(like beer drinkers), do you get in trouble for a drug test or anything like that? wanting actually knowledge, not speculation.

You'd get fired, company drug policies still trump state law.

[Jester]

You'd get fired, company drug policies still trump state law.

kind of what i figured.

[Chili]

does anyone know how this affects workers? this is a conversation i have heard dozens of times and have wondered how it would work. So if you have a job and smoke a joint after work every night(like beer drinkers), do you get in trouble for a drug test or anything like that? wanting actually knowledge, not speculation.

They can fire you for smoking cigarettes if they have a policy against it, so yes, they can still fire you for weed regardless of the law.

[talisman]

They can fire you for smoking cigarettes if they have a policy against it, so yes, they can still fire you for weed regardless of the law.

I don't think it is going to be as cut and dry as that in actual practice. I foresee the courts up there doing a lot of work tweaking(no pun intended!) this in the next few years.

[Jester]

I don't think it is going to be as cut and dry as that in actual practice. I foresee the courts up there doing a lot of work tweaking(no pun intended!) this in the next few years.

that's exactly what i was thinking. there is going to be a lot of red tape and lines to be worked out.

[War Machine]

its why I huff paint, aint failed a drug test yet!

[Chili]

I don't think it is going to be as cut and dry as that in actual practice. I foresee the courts up there doing a lot of work tweaking(no pun intended!) this in the next few years.

Doesn't matter. It's not a protected issue, so employers can set policies against it. Decriminalizing or legalizing weed does not mean employers have to allow it. The cigarette thing is a perfect example and has been validated with case law. Employers can set policy stating that you can not smoke. Then if you do, they can fire you for it.

Even more so since it does impair you, yet there is not a definitive test to say you are under the influence, as there would be with alcohol.

Hell, if you have an accident on the job up there the first thing you have to do is take a drug test. If you test positive for anything they immediately fire you. Not because the drug is illegal but because you were potentially under the influence. Even if you hadn't smoked in a week, you are still going to get fired.

[CJ]

I don't think it is going to be as cut and dry as that in actual practice. I foresee the courts up there doing a lot of work tweaking(no pun intended!) this in the next few years.

I'm sure they will try it, but marijuana is a mind altering substance, same as alcohol from a legal perspective. I would think it's a pretty easy argument for an employer to make the case why you don't want anyone under the influence. The counter argument would be that you can't prove they were under the influence, and then the employer would simple say they do not have the manpower or time to test each employee daily. Very similar to alcohol policies I would assume.

[talisman]

Doesn't matter. It's not a protected issue, so employers can set policies against it. Decriminalizing or legalizing weed does not mean employers have to allow it. The cigarette thing is a perfect example and has been validated with case law. Employers can set policy stating that you can not smoke. Then if you do, they can fire you for it.

Even more so since it does impair you, yet there is not a definitive test to say you are under the influence, as there would be with alcohol.

Hell, if you have an accident on the job up there the first thing you have to do is take a drug test. If you test positive for anything they immediately fire you. Not because the drug is illegal but because you were potentially under the influence. Even if you hadn't smoked in a week, you are still going to get fired.

I'm not saying they can't, but there will be a slew of lawsuits about it from ex-employees. At the end of the day I bet it ends up being more trouble than it's worth for most employers to worry about it. Eventually, anyway.

[roliath]

I don't think its actually legal yet in CO, I believe the laws aren't fully fleshed out yet and the actual legalization will take place in a few months.
And im sure an employer would be quick to fire an employee for smoking the reefer.
There are tests for weed out now CJ, its a mouth swab and I believe it detects presence up to 24/48 hours?

[8mpg]

I don't think it is going to be as cut and dry as that in actual practice. I foresee the courts up there doing a lot of work tweaking(no pun intended!) this in the next few years.

Hospitals do nicotine testing and will not hire/will fire you for it

[CJ]

I don't think its actually legal yet in CO, I believe the laws aren't fully fleshed out yet and the actual legalization will take place in a few months.
And im sure an employer would be quick to fire an employee for smoking the reefer.
There are tests for weed out now CJ, its a mouth swab and I believe it detects presence up to 24/48 hours?

Right, someone would just argue it was 48 hours ago and they were not under the influence at the time. It doesn't test if you're under the influence, it just tests that you've had marijuana in the last day or two. And an employer would have no problem arguing they don't have the time to swap every person's mouth.

[UserX]

Even more so since it does impair you, yet there is not a definitive test to say you are under the influence, as there would be with alcohol.

There is a test now. Via a mouth swab, they can tell if you've smoked in the last 5 hours.

[Jester]

There is a test now. Via a mouth swab, they can tell if you've smoked in the last 5 hours.

Now we are talking!!!!