Toke of the Town

Search Results: workplace (61)

Workplace Battles Coming For Arizona Medical Marijuana Law

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By on Legislation, Medical

Photo: Arizona Capitol Times

​Perhaps inspired by the plight of employees such as Joseph Casias, a Michigan Wal-Mart worker who was fired for legally using pot for medicinal purposes, Arizona’s new medical marijuana law prohibits employers from discriminating against medical marijuana cardholders.

But zero tolerance of “drug use” is the workplace norm in the state, and some say the new law clouds what had been a clear-cut issue for workers and employers.

Employment attorneys say the new Arizona law does allow employers to fire or discipline workers who use medical marijuana on t he job, or whose work is impaired by pot, reports Jahna Berry at The Arizona Republic.
But important questions remain. If a supervisor suspects that a medical marijuana patient’s pot use affects the quality of his or her work, how should they respond? If employees who are medical marijuana patients get injured on the job are they eligible for worker’s compensation? And what happens if a legal medical marijuana patient fails a company’s drug test when applying for a position?
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Anti-Prop 19 Workplace Reefer Madness Ads Are Inaccurate

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By on Culture, News

Graphic: The Weed Blog

​A California-wide radio advertising blitz paid for by the California Chamber of Commerce’s Business PAC features a commercial showing a stoned workforce.

The spot, which calls for a “no” vote on the Proposition 19 cannabis legalization initiative, has many inaccuracies, reports Peter Hecht of The Sacramento Bee.
The text of the Chamber of Commerce ad is as follows:
Imagine coming out of surgery and the nurse caring for you was high – or having to work harder on your job to make up for a co-worker who shows up high on pot. It could happen in California if Proposition 19 passes.
Prop 19 would do more than simply legalize marijuana. Prop 19 is worded so broadly that it would hurt California’s economy, raise business costs and make it harder to create jobs. Employees would be allowed to come to work high and employers would be unable to punish an employee for being high until after a workplace accident.
Not only could workers compensation premiums rise, businesses will lose millions in federal grants for violating federal drug laws. California’s economy is bad enough. Prop 19 will hurt workers and business and cost jobs.
Twenty five California newspapers, including the Chronicle and the Bee, and Dianne Feinstein agree: Vote No on Prop 19.
“The chamber’s over-the-top depiction of a stoned post-surgical nurse and its frets about people coming to work high contradict rules on marijuana in the workplace upheld by the California Supreme Court and federal law,” Hecht points out.
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Finally, Something Democrats and Republicans Agree on: Legal Marijuana

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By on Culture, Legalize It, Media, News

Two new studies on marijuana consumption and acceptance show changing landscapes in public support of states’ rights and a stark admission on workplace use.

One recent study was commissioned by Marijuana Majority, an organization that works to spotlight marijuana as a growing mainstream issue. The survey questioned 1,500 participants about their ideas on marijuana consumer rights, finding 76 percent of participants across the political spectrum (Democrat, Republican and anything in between) believed the federal government should let states implement their own laws regarding marijuana.

How Colorado Is Warning Marijuana Workers About What Can Kill Them

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By on News

Roberta Smith, occupational health program manager at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, hasn’t heard of anyone dying in an industrial accident at a Colorado marijuana business. But she says dispensaries, grows and the like present unusual safety risks, including the possibility of fires and explosions from hash-oil extraction, in addition to the sort of everyday dangers that hover over virtually every workplace. That’s why the CDPHE has produced “Guide for Worker Safety and Health in the Marijuana Industry,” which Smith believes is the first-ever document of its kind.

“We wanted to make sure we put something comprehensive together outlining some of the hazards that may exist and give businesses some best practices for how to build a health-and-safety program,” Smith says.

The guide, on view below in its entirety, was put together with “input from the industry itself, epidemiologists, health professionals and a variety of other partners,” Smith reveals. Also involved were state officials who consider the guide a necessity in part because of the way inspections of dispensaries and grow facilities in Colorado are handled.

Study: With Legalization, Teens Find It Harder to Buy Weed

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By on News

The study is from a U.S. government agency.

Here’s your daily dose of pot news from the newsletter WeedWeek.

U.S. teenagers find it harder to buy weed than they have for 24 years, according to an annual survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The same study found that teen drug use is declining nationally.

Humboldt County’s growing areas voted against REC, but the cities voted for it.

A long awaited task force report in Canada recommended 18 as the legal buying age. For more see hereand here. The country plans to legalize REC next year.

REC businesses in Portland, Oregon, are struggling to obtain licenses. And the head of the state’s lab accrediting agency is stepping down.

Florida lawmakers are thinking about how to regulate MED. For more see here. A proposal in Ohio would allow 40 MED dispensaries in the state.

Tennessee Republicans are considering a MED program.

Radio Free Asia reports that Chinese visitors to North Korea buy pot by the kilogram and sell it for a healthy mark-up in China.

Australian economists say legalizing REC would be good for the Queensland economy.

Stanford Medical School professor and tobacco advertising expert Dr. Robert K. Jackler editorializes that “If nationwide legalization happens, it is essential that the tobacco industry is banned from the marijuana market.”

L.A. Weekly profiles Seventh Point LLC, a cannabis private equity firm focused on Los Angeles. The firm expects L.A., the world’s largest cannabis market, to be the “Silicon Valley” of weed. The city’s cannabis community is uniting to legalize dispensaries.

Keith McCarty, CEO of delivery app Eaze, is stepping down, shortly after the company secured $13M in funding. He’ll be replaced by Jim Patterson, who, like McCarty was a senior executive at Yammer, a workplace social network which sold to Microsoft for more than $1 billion.

Copenhagen Hash Market Trashed After Shooting

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By on News

It used to be tolerated in one part of town.

Here’s your daily round up of pot news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek.

Residents of Copenhagen’s Christiania area tore down the area’s open air cannabis booths after two police were shot and a suspect was killed. Police are concerned about organized crime’s involvement in the industry.

Alaska AG nominee Jahna Lindemuth said the state won’t allow standalone consumption lounges. Dispensaries may be able to have consumption areas. Denverites will vote on a limited social usemeasure in November. If approved it would allow businesses, such as bars, to create consumption areas.

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Colorado Court to Decide if Medical Marijuana Use is a Right, Activists Push for Common Sense

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By on Legalize It, Medical, News

Colorado Supreme Court chambers.


The Colorado Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow on whether or not employers should be able to fire employees for using cannabis off-work. The case stems from Brandon Coats, a former DISH Network phone operator who was fired from his job in 2010 after he failed a test for marijuana. Coates, who was left in a wheelchair for life after a car accident as a teen, says he only uses the cannabis off work and that his employer fired him inappropriately.
Colorado business officials and the state Attorney General’s office have come out in support of DISH’s decision, but a group of vocal Colorado advocates have jumped in on Coates’ side and are imploring the courts to decide for patients and not for big business interests.

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Misleading Headline Says 10% of Americans Go to Work Baked

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By on Legalize It, News, Say what?

FlickrCommons
Is 10% of America’s workforce really toking up before clocking in?


There is a headline making the rounds from Mashable.com right now whose headline bluntly states, “Nearly 10% of Americans Go to Work High on Weed“.
Now, if you visit Mashable.com for news about anything other than maybe potato recipes, you were likely too blinded by the cutesy illustrated infographic attached to the article to have noticed how shoddy the actual attempt at journalism was.

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