DOJ Plans to Reclassify Marijuana From Schedule I to Lower-Risk Schedule III Drug
On April 30, 2024, following a months-long process, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) circulated a proposal to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance. This historic move—likely the most substantial change to federal drug policy in more than fifty years—would place marijuana amongst the likes of acetaminophen with codeine, […]
Weed at Work: Can Georgia Employers Still Drug Test?
Across the United States, a broad legal spectrum has developed regarding the use of marijuana, thus creating great uncertainty among employers that have long striven to maintain drug-free workplaces. Federally, marijuana still is classified as a prohibited Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substance Act. In recent years, many states have decriminalized marijuana, some limiting […]
Medical Marijuana Usage Is Not Protected Under the ADA, Vermont Federal Court Rules
On February 14, 2024, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont dismissed a plaintiff’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination and failure-to-accommodate case, holding that his medical marijuana usage was not protected under the ADA (Skoric v. Marble Valley Regional Transit District). Quick Hits A federal district judge in Vermont […]
Ohio Becomes 24th State to Legalize Recreational Use of Marijuana: 7 Key Considerations for Employers
On November 7, 2023, Ohio voters made Ohio the twenty-fourth state in the United States to legalize the recreational possession and use of marijuana. Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) Section 3780, which is subject to amendment by the Ohio General Assembly, will go into effect on December 7, 2023, but it will take months to establish […]
Medical Marijuana in Your Suitcase? How One Basketball Player’s Conviction Raises Concerns for Employers
On October 25, 2022, U.S. professional basketball player Brittney Griner lost her bid in a Russian appeals court to overturn a nine-year sentence for attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into Russia. According to reports, Griner, a Women’s National Basketball Association star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested at a Russian airport in February 2022 […]
California Passes Bill Protecting Employees’ Off-Duty Marijuana Use
California employers may soon be barred from discharging employees or refusing to hire individuals based on their off-duty use of marijuana, under a new bill headed to the governor’s desk. On August 30, 2022, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 2188, which would prohibit employers from discriminating against “a person in hiring, termination, or […]
California Bill Proposes to Prohibit Employment Discrimination Against Marijuana Users
A bill recently introduced in the California Assembly proposes to prohibit discrimination against employees who use cannabis off the job. The legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) No. 2188, would amend California’s employment antidiscrimination law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and make it an unlawful practice for an employer to discriminate against an adult applicant or […]
Mississippi Approves Medical Marijuana: What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
Rarely are we able to combine the Grateful Dead and Mississippi in the same sentence, but the band once said, what a long strange trip it’s been. In November 2020, Mississippi voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative Measure No. 65, a citizen-driven ballot initiative. Initiative Measure No. 65 would have amended the Mississippi Constitution to create a state medical […]
Philadelphia Ban on Pre-Hire Marijuana Testing Takes Effect on January 1, 2022
On January 1, 2022, Philadelphia’s ordinance, titled, “Prohibition on Testing for Marijuana as a Condition for Employment,” Phila. Code § 9-5500, et seq., will take effect. The ordinance—which was passed by the Philadelphia City Council on April 22, 2021, and signed into law by Mayor Jim Kenney on April 28, 2021—states that in the City […]
Pennsylvania Court Holds Medical Marijuana Act Allows Employees to Sue for Discrimination
On August 5, 2021, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held for the first time that Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) allows an employee to sue his or her employer for taking an adverse employment action based on the employee’s status as a certified user of medical marijuana. In Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems, Inc., et al., the superior […]
Virginia’s Recreational Marijuana Legislation and New Employee Medicinal Use Protections
On April 21, 2021, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law House Bill No. 2312 and Senate Bill No. 1406, moving the date of recreational marijuana legalization in Virginia up to July 1, 2021. The legalization movement, which has increased in momentum in the Commonwealth since Democrats gained a majority in the legislature, culminated in February 2021, when […]
Alabama Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana: Roll Tide! (and a Joint?)
On May 6, 2021, the Alabama legislature approved a medical marijuana legalization bill. Senate Bill (SB) 46, more commonly known as the Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act, will now go to Governor Kay Ivey for final approval. Governor Ivey has not indicated that she will veto the bill, although a spokesperson for Governor Ivey […]
