With 2019 nearly rolled up, it is time to exhale and recap the latest dose of marijuana laws affecting the workplace. In the last twelve months, Illinois became the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults[1] and several other jurisdictions passed or modified their existing laws governing marijuana and the workplace. Below is a summary of this year’s developments and some thoughts about what 2020 might bring.
Illinois Legalizes Recreational Marijuana Use
On June 25, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed the Illinois’ Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act into law ...
On July 16, 2019, the New Jersey Supreme Court (“Court”) granted certification to review the Appellate Division’s decision in Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, which ruled that the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination’s (“LAD”) requirement that employers reasonably accommodate disabilities applied to an employee’s use of medical cannabis legally prescribed pursuant to New Jersey’s Compassionate Use of Medical Marijuana Act (“CUMMA”[1]). Employers may expect to see additional direction regarding their obligation to accommodate employees’ use ...
On June 5, 2019, Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada signed AB 132 (the “Law”), which prohibits employers from declining to hire a prospective employee based on pre-employment marijuana drug tests. On the heels of a new New York City law which prohibits employers from requiring pre-employment drug testing for marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols (the active ingredient in marijuana), Nevada is now the first state to prohibit employers from using pre-employment drug tests to screen out applicants who use marijuana.
Under the Law, beginning January 1, 2020, employers in Nevada ...
On June 4, 2019, the Illinois legislature passed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (the “Cannabis Act”). Under the Cannabis Act, Illinois residents over 21 years of age may legally possess 30 grams of marijuana flower and five grams of marijuana concentrate for their personal use, starting January 1, 2020. The 610-page Cannabis Act also provides the most extensive workplace protections for employers of any marijuana legalization statute around the country. Indeed, the Illinois General Assembly declares at the beginning of the Cannabis Act that “employee workplace ...
Beginning July 1, 2018, recreational marijuana can be legally sold, taxed, and consumed in Massachusetts—one of nine states, in addition to Washington, D.C., that now permits recreational marijuana use. Massachusetts already is one of 29 states that allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes (and 17 others permit certain low-THC cannabis products for medical reasons).
Background
Legalization of recreational marijuana started in 2016 with a ballot initiative by Massachusetts voters. The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (“Marijuana Act”), which took effect on ...
While the presidential election has attracted extreme attention, marijuana legalization initiatives were on the ballots in nine states on November 8, 2016. Four states – Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota – approved measures providing for the medical use of marijuana, and three states – California, Massachusetts, and Nevada – approved initiatives allowing for recreational use. The results in Maine are still close to call, but, if that measure is approved, it will be the fourth measure permitting recreational use. Only one state (Arizona) defeated a marijuana ...
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