Pubdate: Sat, 12 Jul 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Andy Mannix
Page: A1

POT'S LEGAL - BUT YOU PROBABLY SHOULD ASK YOUR BOSS

Seattle's City Attorney Apologizes for Taking Pot to Work. His Case 
Highlights Questions Facing Employers and Workers.

On Tuesday, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes made a spectacle of 
being among the first to buy pot from Cannabis City, Seattle's 
inaugural retail marijuana shop. He bought two 2-gram bags of OG's 
Pearl that day: one for posterity, he said, the other for "personal 
enjoyment when it's appropriate."

"Today marijuana sales became legal and I'm here to personally 
exercise that new freedom," Holmes said. Then he went back to his 
office - with the pot.

While it might be acceptable by state law, taking marijuana to work 
is not a freedom city employees have, according to the city drug 
policy. Friday afternoon, Holmes apologized for bringing the pot to 
his office, and volunteered to donate $3,000 to downtown emergency services.

"When I brought the unopened marijuana to city offices - trying to 
keep up with a busy schedule - I nonetheless violated the city's 
rules," Holmes said in a statement.

Holmes' apology doesn't address his plans for "personal enjoyment," 
though that, too, would seem to violate the city's policy, which 
specifies: "Possession includes having detectable amounts in your 
body." Spokeswoman Kimberly Mills on Friday said Holmes, an elected 
official, is not exempt from the policy, but he "never intended to 
use it any time soon."

The case highlights the complicated relationship between state law 
and workplace policies pertaining to marijuana in Washington. With 
the first round of retail shops now open, Washingtonians can walk 
into a store, buy a bag of weed and go home and light up in full 
compliance of state law.

But that doesn't mean they won't be punished - or even fired - for it.

Employers still have discretion over setting guidelines for worker 
drug use. For certain professions, such as truck drivers who rely on 
federally issued commercial driver's licenses, marijuana is generally 
prohibited across the board. But for most industries in Washington, 
policies are set by the employer, and having traces of marijuana in 
your system can still be grounds for firing.

"There is an element that's industry-by-industry based on those 
regulations," said Mark Berry, employment attorney for Davis Wright 
Tremaine. "Once you get outside of that I think it tends to be 
employer-by-employer. And each employer is making a judgment on how 
they want to enforce rules."

Some employers 'don't want to know'

Some companies appear to be taking a softer approach to enforcing 
drug policies related to marijuana use, said Michael Subit, 
Seattlebased employment-law attorney.

In 2011, Subit represented a worker who was fired for smoking medical 
marijuana. The case made it to the state Supreme Court, where the 
employer eventually won.

"You still can be fired for using it," said Subit of legal 
recreational pot. "But you can be fired for doing many things that are legal."

Subit said he hasn't received calls from employees being fired for 
smoking marijuana in months, which is what leads him to believe more 
employers are lightening up on the issue. The stigma around marijuana 
has rapidly evolved, and he believes the recent opening of pot stores 
could hasten that changing perception.

"I think the fact that it's now here is going to accelerate the 
cultural change even faster," he said. "I think these things happen 
and the law sometimes follows cultural change, instead of anticipates [it]."

Many companies have come to treat marijuana with the same deference 
as alcohol: just don't do it on the job, said Roshelle Pavlin, 
spokeswoman for the Washington State Human Resources Council.

"We're not recommending that people do anything one way or the 
other," she said. "But yeah, not at work, just like you don't drink at work."

Daniel Swedlow, attorney for Teamsters Local 117 - which represents 
more than 16,000 workers for 200 employers - said he's seen 
continuing issues and arbitrations since Washington's new marijuana 
laws went into effect in 2013.

Swedlow has seen a surge of employees calling him to inquire about 
their rights to consume pot now that it's legal. In some extreme 
cases, employers have even given up trying to screen for marijuana.

"I think that some employers - very few, but some - have just stopped 
testing for pot," he said. "They don't want to know."

Other employers 'backlashing'

More often, Swedlow said, he's seen employers taking a stricter 
approach to policies against marijuana use.

He said many companies have attempted to change policy language 
during collective bargaining to specifically include marijuana, or 
even marijuana metabolites, which can stay in the bloodstream long 
after a person smokes. The union has fought against this kind of 
language, arguing employees should be able to engage in legal pot use 
on their own time.

"My experience so far has been that, as marijuana use is becoming 
more normalized, employers are backlashing against it," he said.

Venus Mills, assistant director for Bothell-based Drug Free Business, 
said she expected to see a decrease in drug testing when new 
marijuana laws took effect. But so far it's been the opposite.

"As a matter of fact, our client base has actually increased since 
the law went into effect," said Mills. "We're seeing more and more 
companies testing now that it's in the forefront of their minds, 'Are 
my employees smoking pot?' "

Some companies, such as Boeing, have not changed a thing. Boeing 
still prohibits marijuana use among its employees, citing federal 
law, and screens employees for substances upon hire, and afterward in 
certain cases.

"An employee may be required to undergo drug and alcohol testing in 
scenarios defined by our drug-free workforce policy that includes 
post-accident, reasonable suspicion, and random testing where 
required by federal DOT regulations," said Boeing spokeswoman 
Catherine Rudolph in a statement.

The Seattle Times similarly drug-tests employees preemployment and in 
cases of suspicion, said spokeswoman Jill Mackie.

"Employees who are working are expected to be free from the influence 
of alcohol or any other drug, legal or illegal, that could affect job 
performance or risk the health and safety of themselves or others," she said.

For Washington teachers, policies can change by the district. But as 
a general rule, said Linda Mullen, spokeswoman for the Washington 
Education Association, teachers are expected to be of sound mind 
while on the job.

"Pot stores are just opening, but that doesn't change the fact that 
educators and other people can't go to work compromised," she said. 
"You can't go to work high just because it's legal."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom