On February 19, 2019, the Michigan Court of Appeals considered whether a job applicant rejected for a position due to a positive test result for marijuana could sue under the state’s Medical Marihuana Act (MMA). At issue was the following from the MMA:

A qualifying patient who has been issued and possesses a registry identification card is not subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, including, but not limited to, civil penalty or disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for the medical use of marihuana in accordance with this act . . . .”Continue Reading Court Finds No Private Right of Action Under Michigan Medical Marihuana Act

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill on April 17, entitled Georgia’s Hope Act (HB 324), allowing in-state production and sale of marijuana oil for medical use. Before this bill, Georgia only allowed citizens with a narrow list of specific medical conditions to possess cannabis oil with less than five percent THC, but

Last month, a Hawaii federal district court judge denied an employer’s motion to dismiss an applicant’s claim for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) where the employer merely assumed that an applicant who admitted to having a medical marijuana card was a current marijuana user and would fail a drug test.  
Continue Reading Possession of a Medical Marijuana Card Doesn’t Necessarily Prove Current Drug Use

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

The big news this week was the re-introduction of the STATES Act.  The bill would protect marijuana businesses and consumers in states where it is legal, and in what is a rarity in our increasingly partisan

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Our weekly review starts in Georgia, where the governor is expected to sign a medical marijuana reform bill into law.  The law will allow grow houses and production facilities in the state, which will be heavily

The New Jersey Court of Appeals revived a funeral director’s medical marijuana discrimination suit in Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc., Case No. A-3072-17T3. There, the funeral director was involved in a workplace accident. The director told the hospital that he was authorized to use medical marijuana. The employer fired the funeral director. The funeral director’s supervisor told him it was because of his medical marijuana use but the employer stated that the director was fired because he failed to comply with the Company’s policy which required employees to inform their supervisor if they are taking medications that could alter their ability to perform their duties. The director argued that his termination was unlawful under the State’s discrimination law even though the medical marijuana act did not afford him protection.
Continue Reading NJ Medical Pot User’s Case Not Up In Smoke: Accommodations Might Be Required Despite Weed Statutes Saying Otherwise

An Arizona federal district court judge entered judgment against Walmart Inc. for terminating the employment of a woman who had been prescribed medical marijuana because it had not established through expert evidence that the employee was impaired by marijuana at work despite high levels of marijuana in the results of her drug test.  Therefore, the

Michigan becomes the tenth state to legalize cannabis on a recreational level, and Missouri and Utah now join thirty-one other states who have legalized medical marijuana. But what’s next and how will this affect employers?

Here is a quick summary of some of the major issues employers may face now that cannabis is legal in