New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed bill S854 into law March 31, giving injured workers who use medical marijuana the same protections as those using regular prescription drugs. The bill removes cannabis from the state’s list of controlled substances, gives injured workers who use the drug protections that weren’t included in the state’s 2014 Compassionate […]
Medical weed use and its effect on the workplace continues to be a big safety issue with a changing landscape. So far, medically prescribed weed is approved in 36 states. In addition, 15 states and Washington, DC, have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Other states may put the issue in their voters’ hands. However, at […]
A workers’ compensation insurer is not committing a federal crime under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) when reimbursing a medical weed user for purchase of the drug, according to the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. Reimbursing a medical marijuana user for the drug in a work-related injury case is not impossible under the CSA nor […]
A Pennsylvania judge ruled Nov. 10 that an employee’s off-duty use of medical marijuana doesn’t qualify as a “disability” under the state’s Human Relations Act (PHRA). Pamela Palmiter, a certified medical marijuana user, worked at Moses Taylor Hospital and was fired in January 2019 after a positive drug test for marijuana. Palmiter filed two lawsuits […]
Voters in five states approved laws to legalize medical or recreational marijuana on Election Day this year. What does this mean for employers in those states? Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota now have laws approving the use of marijuana in one form or another. Arizona Voters in Arizona passed the Smart and […]
Another state supreme court has weighed in on whether workers’ compensation insurance has to pay for medical marijuana. Despite its ruling, the court writes that aspects of this issue aren’t entirely clear. Daniel Wright suffered work-related injuries in 2010 and 2012. He sought $24,267 from workers’ comp for medical marijuana to treat chronic pain from […]
Can an employee sue their employer for terminating or taking other adverse actions against them solely because the employee is a certified medical marijuana user? The answer is yes, according to a federal court in Pennsylvania. On Sept. 25, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found in favor of a terminated employee […]
Recent statistics show a program to reduce injured workers’ dependency on opioids is working. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, which administers comp for federal workers, implemented a four-point strategy to reduce opioid use that often leads to misuse and addiction. The OWCP: instituted more effective controls at the […]
Scenario: An employee has a medical marijuana license. A question about impairment and a safety-sensitive job arises. Will a drug test or federal law protect your company? Increasingly, the answer to that question is no – at least not relying solely on a drug test or federal law. That was the takehome from the session, […]
