Three more states legalized adult recreational marijuana use in 2022, and it may only be a matter of time before such use is legal across the country.
Also growing in acceptance is the use of therapeutic psychedelics, such as psilocybin. Two states have legalized their use, some cities have decriminalized their use and more states may adopt laws legalizing them in the future.
But while use of these drugs may be legal, employers still do not have to permit employees under their influence to work.
Here's how these laws are causing change in the workplace.
Implications of Legalization of Recreational Marijuana
Despite three states—Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota—rejecting in 2022 the legalization of adult recreational marijuana use, three other states—Maryland, Missouri and Rhode Island—legalized such use.
"I think the legalization of marijuana is inevitable nationwide; it's just a matter of how and when," said Dillon McGuire, an attorney with Pashman Stein Walder Hayden in Holmdel, N.J.
Recreational marijuana is now legal in 21 states plus the District of Columbia.
The employment law implications are twofold—legal and practical, said August Heckman III, an attorney with Morgan Lewis in Princeton, N.J.
Some statutes prohibit employers from basing an adverse employment action on an individual's lawful, off-duty use of recreational marijuana, unless the employee came to work impaired, he noted. Consequently, employers with prehire or random drug-testing programs that...
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