A series of amendments to state law prohibit employers from discriminating against job applicants based on past or off-the-clock pot use, and the list of jobs now includes police officers. 

Per a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last October, law enforcement officials in California are updating employment policies for police officers—specifically, removing questions for police job applications about past cannabis use.

Dec. 7, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training issued a bulletin announcing changes in the way aspiring police officers are asked about prior pot use. The bulletin arrives 30 days after a new California law went into effect, which affects law enforcement jobs and many other types of jobs against discrimination surrounding off-the-clock pot use.

Newsom signed Senate Bill 700, spearheaded by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), along with dozens of other bills Oct. 7. SB 700 amends Government Code section 12954, which “prohibits discrimination against a person in hiring, termination, or term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing the person for their use of cannabis off the job and away from their workplace.”

“To meet the provisions of GC § 12954, the POST Personal History Statement—Peace Officer and Personal History Statement—Public Safety Dispatcher forms have been modified to remove inquiries about a candidate’s prior cannabis use,” the bulletin reads. 

Specifically, questions 80-83 and questions 79-82 have been modified. General inquiries about an applicant’s prior criminal history will remain unchanged. The revised forms are available on the POST Website. Other provisions of GC § 12954, which was initially added to the Government Code by Assembly Bill 2188 (2022), pertain to drug screening tests. The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training does not require drug testing nor provide guidance in establishing drug use policies. Hiring agencies will need to determine how to adjust their drug testing and/or policies to meet this new law. 

“This law becomes effective January 1, 2024.” 

Employees of most types of jobs in California already are protected for off-duty pot use.

In Sept. 2022, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2188, a bill from Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D) that makes it unlawful for employers of all kinds to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment for off-duty cannabis use.

“Existing law, on and after January 1, 2024, makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person because of the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace, except as specified.”

The series of amendments make it harder for employers to punish employees and future employees from past pot use.

Other States Take Similar Actions

Some adult-use states have chosen to allow past pot use for aspiring police officers while others have not.

Nevada officials recently amended hiring standards for police officers to allow applicants to be eligible to apply, who would have been disqualified for certain cannabis-related offenses. Nevada’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) voted to amend rules that prevented applicants from becoming a peace officer if they have been convicted of a drug-related offense.

Other states didn’t exactly follow the same pattern. A lawsuit filed last month aims to block officers on police forces in New Jersey from consuming cannabis, even off the clock.

The New Jersey Monitor reports that Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea, filed an 18-page complaint on Oct. 16, arguing that because federal law prohibits anyone who uses a controlled substance including cannabis from possessing a firearm, Jersey City cannot employ police officers who consume adult-use cannabis. Shea was joined in his announcement with Mayor Steven Fulop and Jersey City Police Department officials.

The State of New Jersey, Matthew Platkin as Attorney General of the state of New Jersey, The New Jersey Civil Service Commission, Norhan Mansour, Omar Polanco, Mackenzie Reilly, Montavious Patten, and Richie Lopez are listed as the plaintiffs. 

“Police officers in New Jersey are required to possess and receive firearms in order to fulfill their duties as law enforcement officers. New Jersey legalized the regulated use of recreational marijuana/cannabis in New Jersey through passage of the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMM Act),” the lawsuit reads. “In doing so, New Jersey failed to address the impact of the federal firearm laws on the use of regulated marijuana/cannabis in New Jersey for persons who are required to possess and/or receive firearms or ammunitions as part of the job duties, including police officers in Jersey City.” 

California and other states are choosing to allow prospective police officers who used to smoke pot in the past.

The post California Cop Applicants Won’t Be Asked About Prior Pot Use appeared first on High Times.

The post California Cop Applicants Won’t Be Asked About Prior Pot Use appeared first on Paradise Found.

California lawmakers on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill to protect employees who use marijuana off the job. If approved by the governor, the legislation would make California the seventh state in the nation to pass employment protections for workers’ off-duty cannabis use.

The measure, Assembly Bill 2188 (AB-2188), would “make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person” solely because of marijuana use while off the job, according to an abstract of the legislation. But Assemblymember Bill Quirk, the sponsor of the legislation, noted that AB-2188 does not allow people to work while impaired by cannabis.

“Nothing in this bill would allow someone to come (to work) high,” said Quirk.

Under the legislation, employers would be prohibited from taking action against an employee for failing a urine or hair screening for cannabis metabolites. Tests that measure or detect the presence of cannabis metabolites only show that the person ingested cannabis at some point, potentially weeks before the sample is taken, and are not an indicator of present impairment.

The legislation is supported by cannabis advocates and labor groups including United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California Nurses Association, CA Board of Registered Nursing, and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930. Supporters of the bill argue that employees should not be punished for using marijuana while off the clock.

“Using outdated cannabis tests only causes employees to feel unsafe and harassed at work, it does not increase workplace safety,” said Matt Bell, secretary-treasurer for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324.

The legislation includes several exceptions designed to protect employers. The bill does not apply to workers in the “building and construction trades” or to employees or applicants for positions that require a background check or security clearance under federal regulations. Additionally, the legislation does not preempt any federal or state statutes that require testing for controlled substances and would not apply to employment decisions based on “scientifically valid” pre-employment drug test methods “that do not screen for psychoactive cannabis metabolites.”

California Pioneered Cannabis Legalization

California was the first state to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis in 1996, and 20 years later voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana by adults. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) notes that six states (Nevada, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Montana and Rhode Island) have enacted laws to protect workers’ use of recreational cannabis off the job and 21 states offer worker protections for medical marijuana patients.

“Cannabis is legal in California, and workers have a right to engage in legal activity while away from the job. Yet countless workers and job applicants are losing job opportunities or being fired because they test positive for legal, off-the-job use of marijuana on account of indiscriminate urine and hair metabolite tests,” said Dale Gieringer, the director of NORML’s California chapter. “Scientific studies have failed to show that urine testing is effective at preventing workplace accidents. Numerous studies have found that workers who test positive for metabolites have no higher risk of workplace accidents.”

The California Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the legislation because it would “create a protected status for marijuana use” in state law that bans discrimination in the workplace.

“Put simply: marijuana use is not the same as protecting workers against discrimination based on race or national origin,” the business association wrote in a letter to state lawmakers.

AB-2188 was first passed by the California State Assembly in May, followed by the approval with amendments by the state Senate on Monday. On Tuesday, the Assembly approved the Senate version of the measure. The bill now heads to the desk of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who has until the end of September to decide its fate. If Newsom signs the bill into law, it will go into effect on January 1, 2024.

The post California Lawmakers Pass Bill Protecting Workers’ Off-Duty Cannabis Use appeared first on High Times.

The post California Lawmakers Pass Bill Protecting Workers’ Off-Duty Cannabis Use appeared first on Paradise Found.

A bill that would add protections to employees in California who consume cannabis off the clock is advancing and could head to the Senate floor shortly. The bill would disallow job discrimination from employers, in most cases, based on urine or hair tests that detect only inactive metabolites of THC.

Urine or hair tests only can detect inactive metabolites of THC days or weeks later, making them a poor indicator of impairment—or even recent use. The bill would still allow the use of oral swab or computer-based performance tests—which is actually a more reliable indicator of recent use or impairment.

While Assembly Bill 2188 would protect employees in California who smoke off the clock from inaccurate drug testing formats, it would continue to allow an employer to take action against employees who are impaired on the clock. There are also exemptions, of course, for federal workers and construction workers.

The bill is supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California Nurses Association, CA Board of Registered Nursing, and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930. In addition, the California Employment Lawyers Association, United Cannabis Business Association, Cannabis Equity Policy Council, Americans for Safe Access, and California Cannabis Industry Association, also support the bill.

Employers generally don’t test for THC—only for THC metabolites, the waste product of THC, which urine tests and hair tests look at. Urine tests are not a reliable indicator of impairment based on THC metabolites, nor do they have any value for employers who might have bigger things to worry about, such as alcoholism or opioid abuse. 

“This whole piss-testing regime is really the result of government fraud in the first place,” California NORML Director Dale Gieringer tells High Times. “There was never any good evidence that piss testing, in particular looking for metabolites, had anything to do with public safety.”

It’s nothing more than a remnant of the Reagan-era Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, which picked up amid the peak of “Just Say No” fever.

Gieringer continues, “There’s never been an FDA study to show that that’s true. I mean, if I had a new drug, or medical device, that I said, ‘If you give this to your employees, they will have fewer accidents, and they’ll be more reliable and better employees.’ If I had such a medical device, or drug, the FDA would require me to do doubleblind controlled clinical studies proving that that’s the case.”

“That was never, ever done for urine testing. It was basically a scam by former Reagan drug officials who—after leaving the government—went into the urine-testing business, and were well-connected, in general, with the government, who sort of decided that it would be profitable to require these tests a long time ago—the late ‘80s. And so we’re just putting an end to that fraud.”

California NORML issued a press release, urging Californians to reach out to their state senators. “Scientific studies have failed to show that urine testing is effective at preventing workplace accidents. Numerous studies have found that workers who test positive for metabolites have no higher risk of workplace accidents.”

“Ironically, under current drug testing rules, workers may use addictive opiates for medical use, but are forbidden to use medical cannabis, which has been shown to reduce opiate use,” Gieringer continued.

The California Assembly approved the bill, as well as the Senate Judiciary and Labor committees, and the bill was assigned to the Appropriations suspense file.

In the event that the bill is approved at a committee hearing on August 11, it will move to the Senate floor for a vote. California NORML is urging residents to write a letter to your state senator in support of AB 2188.

“Twenty-one states currently have laws protecting employment rights for medical cannabis users, and five states (Nevada, New York, New Jersey, Montana and Connecticut) plus several cities (New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City MO, Rochester NY and Richmond VA) protect recreational cannabis consumers’ employment rights,” added Cal NORML Deputy Director Ellen Komp. “California, a global leader in progressive causes, still has no protections for its workers who consume cannabis. It’s high time to change that and protect California’s workers.”

California could be next on the list to provide protections for employees who consume cannabis off the clock.

The post California Bill To Bar Employment Urine and Hair Drug Tests for Cannabis Advances appeared first on High Times.

The post California Bill To Bar Employment Urine and Hair Drug Tests for Cannabis Advances appeared first on Paradise Found.