California  prevents employers from taking adverse action against an employee for cannabis use.

Legalization has far reaching effects. An example that becomes more and more prevalent is how medical and recreational legalization connects to workplace drug testing. Policies vary by industry, ranging from solely testing after an incident to regularly scheduled sampling to pre-employment drug testing. States that have legalized must consider this aspect, and clear guidelines for businesses streamline the evolution of procedures. Below is some current info regarding the world of cannabis employment drug testing.ate. Winner to be drawn on 4/21.

California drug testing laws are under review recently. A newly signed law prevents employers (excluding those with federal ties) from taking adverse action against an employee for cannabis use. Instead, adverse action against employees is only allowed when they are impaired in the workplace.

“It’s a bigger trend of moving beyond just legalizing marijuana, stopping arrests and stopping throwing people in jail for using it,” said Robert Mikos, an expert on drug law at Vanderbilt University. “It’s providing the same level of legal rights and protections for marijuana users that you have for users of prescription drugs, alcohol and tobacco. There are lots of statutes that already protect people for using other medications or for engaging in legal activities off the job,” he said. “So lawmakers might have thought other statutes would protect medical or recreational marijuana users. In a lot of places, that proved to be false.”



California drug testing laws for employers are under constant review, as well as legislation in other states with legalization completed or on the horizon.