Pubdate: Sun, 04 Oct 2015
Source: News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Copyright: 2015 The News-Herald
Contact:  http://www.news-herald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/305
Author: Tracey Read

EXPERTS WEIGH IN

Marijuana Legalization at Work Addressed

The leader of one of the nation's largest metropolitan chambers of 
commerce is urging local businesses to come out against a ballot 
issue that would legalize both medical and recreational marijuana.

But legal experts and proponents of Issue 3 say employers need not 
fear if marijuana is legalized in Ohio.

On Nov. 3, Ohio residents will be asked to vote on both Issue 3 and 
Issue 2, the Ohio Initiated Monopolies Amendment put on by lawmakers 
in response to ResponsibleOhio's campaign to legalize marijuana here. 
Issue 3, or the Marijuana Legalization Initiative, would create 10 
facilities with exclusive rights to commercially grow the drug.

Joseph Roman, president and chief executive officer of the Greater 
Cleveland Partnership, is suggesting employers get involved in the 
campaign to defeat Issue 3 and support Issue 2.

"If Issue 3 does pass, employers are going to have to take a deep 
look at all of their own policies," said Roman. "First and foremost, 
we're trying to keep marijuana legalization from happening. One big 
area of concern is that it's becoming a challenge to find new workers 
and fulfill your workforce needs. Employers are having difficulty 
with drug testing today. Legalizing another substance is not going to 
make it easier to find qualified candidates.

"The complicating factor of legalized marijuana from a workplace 
perspective is at the federal level, the drug would continue to be 
viewed as illegal. If Ohio passes Issue 3, an employer would need to 
be attentive to both state and federal laws, and what we do know is 
that lawsuits are an expense."

Stephen Norton, a spokesman for Mentor-based Steris, said the global 
manufacturer opposes Issue 3.

"It's bad for business; it's bad for Ohio," said Norton. "Steris is 
one of the safest companies in America by any generally accepted metric.

We believe the ballot issue passage would compromise workplace 
safety. We are working to get the message out to vote no on Issue 3 
and vote yes on Issue 2. Ohio should not be among the first states to 
pass something with so many unknowns."

Per company policy, applicants to Steris, which employs about 8,000 
people, must consent to a drug test. While employed, Steris can 
require an employee to take a drug test at any time.

"We do maintain a drug-free workplace in compliance with existing 
regulations and we expect to continue to do so even if Issue 3 
passes," added Norton. "If Issue 3 passes as proposed, employees 
would still be subject to the same restrictions as other medications 
- - even with medical marijuana."

Faith Oltman, a spokesperson for ResponsibleOhio, said employers 
would continue to maintain their rights to establish drug-free 
policies even for legal drugs, such as some companies do with banning nicotine.

"There is this big misconception that employers can't drug test (for 
legal drugs), but they can," she said. "As far as workplace safety 
goes, studies show that in states that have legalized marijuana, 
employees who get into accidents on the job are no more likely to 
test positive for marijuana than a random group of employees."

Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio, said the 
civil liberties group has never liked mandatory drug testing.

"It triggers cheating and some aren't reliable," said Link. "Poppy 
seeds can show up as THC, and there are other substances that give 
false positives, particularly with marijuana. Issue 3 would not 
change an employer's ability to hire and fire. What we do see is an 
opportunity for businesses to develop better tests. You may not have 
smoked marijuana in the last two weeks, but it will still show up in 
your bloodstream. What do you do when 50 percent of your applicants 
have positive tests? A lot of people now smoke marijuana, and it's 
illegal. Just think what it will be like when it's legal."

Mary Jane Trapp, an attorney with Thrasher Dinsmore & Dolan in 
Cleveland and Chardon, said legal marijuana would not necessarily 
hurt the workplace.

"We tell our clients to hope for the best and plan for the worst," 
said Trapp. "Marijuana is still illegal under federal law. Until that 
changes, which I don't see on the horizon, employers are protected 
under federal law. If a business had a zero tolerance policy before 
Issue 3, they'll have a zero tolerance policy after Issue 3. If it 
passes, employers and human resource professionals will need to sit 
down and review their employee handbooks so that the drug use 
policies they have in existence now will also cover marijuana and 
medical marijuana.

"I don't see a huge change for employers. If they fail to update 
their policy and procedure manuals or if they don't have a drug use 
policy, then they might have some problems. People get concerned that 
there's going to be a flood of litigation. I don't see a flood of 
litigation. I see a few test cases coming, but I don't think the 
sky's gonna fall."

However, Trapp said marijuana legalization has affected the legal 
system in another way.

"Colorado has found a substantial increase in OVIs associated with 
marijuana use," she said. "They have these pot tourists who come out 
there and say, 'Oh, wow! I can smoke weed in Colorado!' Well, yes and 
no. You can buy marijuana there, but you can't smoke it at the 
marijuana store, you can't smoke it on the street like you would a 
cigarette, and most hotels have a no-smoking policy."

Oltman believes legal pot in Ohio has more positives than negatives.

"It will be a boon to businesses in our economy in Ohio," she said. 
"Grow sites, manufacturing, testing facilities, innovation centers, 
and local entrepreneurs can open up retail locations. We are 
conservatively estimating that this industry could bring 10,000 jobs to Ohio."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom