Maine employers facilitate tests as cannabis sales rise

For Maine’s recreational marijuana users, getting a job with some of the larger companies in the state may no longer be an obstacle.

Many employers say they are no longer testing marijuana applicants, or if they do, a positive result does not prevent a qualified candidate from getting the job.

Maine is one of the states with legal cannabis that does not have legal protection for recreational users, such as banning employers from testing it for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Meanwhile, the state’s recreational cannabis market has grown rapidly, more than doubling its monthly sales since the market opened in October.

Bath Iron Works spokesman David Hench has ‘ambitious rental targets’ and plans to take on more than 2,700 people on board this year alone. The exception of an important part of the applicant pool was ‘not sensible’, he said.

The company, which is owned by defense contractor General Dynamics, is investigating potential leases for a panel of substances, including opiates, barbiturates, cannabinoids and cocaine. But after Maine’s vote to legalize legal cannabis in 2016 and an expected opening of the adult market in 2018, which was finally delayed until the fall of 2020, ‘positive results on your cannabis testing will not be the basis for the denial of a position at BIW ‘. according to the policy.

However, safety-sensitive positions, including safety officers, firefighters or medical personnel, crane operators, or those in need of safety clearance, are exempt from that policy. Positions that require the Department of Transportation or the U.S. Coast Guard certification are also subject to tests and post-incidents.

MaineHealth, the state’s largest private employer with approximately 22,000 employees, is conducting drug investigations before work, but as of November 2019, the panel will no longer include a test for THC.

Spokesman John Porter said the change was made “in light of evolving state legislation”.

Such policy changes are increasingly occurring among business clients, says Kristin Collins, a lawyer at the Pretoria law firm Preti Flaherty.

“The tendency was to remove it from their testing policy because the use of (marijuana) is so widespread and that testing does not even nearly determine whether the person is using the work or not,” Collins said.

Following the launch of Maine’s recreational marijuana market in October, it’s now easier than ever for anyone over 21 to drink cannabis in their spare time, similar to the entry level for someone who can drink alcohol at the end of the day.

“The simple fact that someone uses marijuana does not mean they are going to be an unsafe employee,” Collins said.

Given Maine’s typically tight job market, most employers in the state are not inclined to adopt policies that could deter qualified, law-abiding applicants.

“It’s hard enough to find people who work in a lot of blue-collar workers in the state, and what I noticed is that you can’t live with a larger number of applicants if you don’t test marijuana,” Collins said. “Whether the test for marijuana has a cooling effect on people (apply) or not, I’m not sure, but it will take many otherwise qualified people out of an applicant pool or otherwise close one who was too narrow in the first place. . . ”

A PERSONAL CHOICE

Mary Allen Lindemann, co-founder of Portland’s Coffee By Design, said the company does not test drug use applicants, but noted that light rental processes are even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic when so many people are looking for work.

“What someone does outside of work is a personal choice as long as it is legal,” Lindemann said. ‘Whatever they do at home is not a problem, but they may not be under the influence’ while at work.

Some larger companies and organizations, including Hannaford Supermarkets and the University of Maine System, have similar policies, which like Coffee By Design have not changed since cannabis was legalized for recreation. They do not require applicants to be tested, but still ban drugs and alcohol in the workplace.

Instead, many employers now focus on making sure employees are not high during their work, something that is not always easy.

“There is still no definitive way to test whether someone has touched marijuana such as testing alcohol,” Collins said. “(There is no way to test on the spot.”

Various methods such as saliva testing can detect the use of marijuana more than testing urine or hair follicles, but the results are not conclusive.

Other ways to test whether a person is disabled, such as an app that tests the subject’s response time, decision-making ability, and hand-eye coordination, are on the market or are under development, but Collins said such programs are not adequate. was not checked to be used as evidence in court.

The ability to test on the spot can still give employers comfort, she said, rather than including THC as part of a standard test panel.

There are some situations in which employers need to test for marijuana use.

For example, an employee who has a commercial driver’s license must be tested for drugs and alcohol according to federal guidelines. Jobs that require the use of a firearm or other weapons, as well as cCollins also needed educational programs, such tests should be done.

The issue is further complicated by medical protection of marijuana, which puts an ‘extremely difficult coverage’ on any policy, she said.

“There are a lot of people who use medical marijuana for medical conditions that are very potentially disabled,” she said. “(Employers) may not discriminate against anyone against medicine, but that does not mean that they can act inappropriately. It must be nuanced. ”

Lindemann is familiar with maintaining balance.

She had employees prescribing medical marijuana to manage their health, and the company had to make exceptions, but had to make sure it would not harm the performance of the job, especially not for those who work with equipment.

TEST STILL LEGAL

Although the decision to leave drug tests is usually left to the employer, the state of Maine currently requires medical marijuana pharmacies to conduct a drug test on all applicants, although David Heidrich, spokesman for the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy, is likely to change that. .

Last month, the office released a list of proposed changes to the rules for the medical cannabis program that would eliminate the test requirement, Heidrich said.

At Wellness Connection of Maine, the state’s largest marijuana provider, a positive marijuana test will not prevent a potential applicant from being hired, said Charlie Langston, managing director. However, the use of an illegal drug can be a disqualification.

Despite the company’s focus on selling cannabis, Wellness Connection does not allow consumption on the property, Langston said, and employees may not be harmed.

“People may be surprised, but we take it very seriously,” he said. “It’s a strong regulated industry and it’s important.”

That said, the company does not perform routine drug tests on existing employees, but reserves the right to initiate a test if there is likely to be reason to believe that any employee’s drug use impairs their ability to perform the work, obstruct.

“Not only can you light a joint or eat edible food at work, but I’m sure there are people coming in who have been making medicine at home,” Langston said. “There are a lot of employees who have medical cards, but they cannot be harmed at work.”

Langston believes businesses that disqualify a potential applicant based on legal marijuana use are likely to miss out on good candidates.

“With the incredibly diverse population that uses it, these are people you would love to work with,” he said.

Amanda O’Leary, a planning and research associate for the Maine Department of Labor’s Labor Standards Bureau, helps businesses navigate state drug testing laws while drafting policies.

“The end result is that employers can still test on marijuana, and that the majority that have been tested continue,” she said. “We see in some industries – and they are very diverse – that they remove marijuana from their panels, and (those who are still testing for it may be a little more comfortable these days if they are positive.”

She recommends that employers research their business and determine if drug testing is relevant to them.

Any company that “really wants to ensure they have a good healthy workplace can consider having a testing program,” she said, adding that employers should consult their own legal advice when drafting a policy.

Every employer with a medicine testing policy approved by the Department of Labor must report its testing activities annually.

POSITIVE TESTS RISE

According to a 2019 report on drug use by employers in Maine conducted by the Department of Labor in Maine, there are only 540 businesses in Maine that are state-approved.

In 2019, 26,173 drug tests were performed with a positive percentage of 7 percent, the highest percentage since the program was created in 1989. Cannabinoids made up about 92 percent of the positive tests.

The vast majority, 25,048, were applicant tests. Only 24 were done with ‘probable cause’, and 1 101 were done as part of a random or random practice.

The percentage of positive tests has steadily increased since the legalization of marijuana, by 4.8 percent in 2016, 5.7 percent in 2017 and 5.8 percent in 2018. It is unknown how the launch of the recreational cannabis market in October data for 2020 and 2021 may affect, but O ‘Leary said she is confident marijuana will still be the highest positivity rate of any drug.

Maine’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act prohibits schools, employers, and landlords from discriminating against 21 or older “only for the person’s status as a qualifying patient or primary caregiver, unless the school, employer, or landlord federal transgression violated. legislation or cause it to lose a federal contract or financing. ”

When the recreational marijuana laws came into force in 2018, a similar provision was introduced for users, which prohibits discrimination in renting, housing or education only for ‘that person’s marijuana consumption’ outside the school, housing or workplace.

Then, in the summer, the law was changed and that part of the law was removed. Employers can now ‘establish and enforce workplace policies that restrict the use of marijuana and marijuana products by employees in the workplace or while otherwise engaging in activities within the course and scope of their work.’

Like Maine, Massachusetts and Colorado also do not protect recreational use of cannabis from drug tests commissioned by employers, but last year Nevada became the first state to ban employers from doing THC applicants for drug testing. The city of New York follows later that year.

In both Nevada and New York, there are restrictions in place for safety-sensitive positions or positions in which federal law requires the employee to submit to drug screening tests.

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