Editor's Note: Federally regulated employers aside, employers need to address changes in their drug policies if marijuana is legal in their state. If it's legal, why would employees be penalized and/or fired for having the drug in their systems? If the employees are not coming to work high–the same as if they were coming to work drunk, in my opinion–what's the rationale behind continuing to test for marijuana?Â
The advent in July of legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Oregon will have no effect on workplace rules on drug use and drug testing, say lawyers specializing in Oregon employment law.
That hasn’t stopped employers from wondering what changes, if any, they need to make to those policies.
“Right now, we’re in a holding pattern,” said Tamara Weber, human resources manager at Robberson Ford, in Bend. “We want to see how things play out in the Legislature.”
Measure 91, the 2014 ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana, specifically left state law on employment and housing untouched.
Related: Medical Marijuana and the Workplace: What Employers Need to Know
