Editor's Note: After just commenting yesterday about employers and marijuana drug testing in states where marijuana use is legal, I was thrilled to see this news from Marijuana.com come out of our nation's capital. While it doesn't change employer's ability to test for marijuana once employed, it still is significant progress!
On Tuesday the District of Columbia Council unanimously passed legislation to bar employers from drug testing potential workers for marijuana prior to making a conditional job offer.
While the new law, once signed by the mayor, will not stop businesses in the nation’s capital from testing for marijuana once someone is on the job, it will prohibit them from using a potential employee’s marijuana use as a factor in determining whether to make a job offer.
“The citizens of the District voted for Initiative 71, to legalize marijuana, and this bill will protect citizens who legally smoke marijuana but are then subsequently penalized for it through loss of employment opportunities,” said Councilmember Vincent Orange, who sponsored the legislation. “The bill aims to prevent the loss of a job opportunity for job seekers who have used marijuana prior to receiving a job offer but it does not remove an employer’s right to prohibit the use of drugs at work or at any time during employment.”
