Company Compliance in Washington

Every cannaseur’s dream has come true: Washington “legalized
it.” But canna-smokers woes are far from over. Just because you won’t get
arrested for taking that after-work inhale, doesn’t mean you won’t get fired.
Unfortunately, many national corporations have policies prohibiting cannabis
use even in your off time.

So what can you do to avoid repercussions in the workplace?
Well, for one, you could not have your face plastered all over the media for
purchasing cannabis. 30-year-old Michael Boyer was the first man in Spokane to
legally purchase cannabis. Donning a tie-dyed shirt and a wide smile, the
camera loved him.  Unfortunately, because
of his conspicuousness, his employers saw the news and decided to fire him. He
was later rehired upon his employers finding out he’d taken the day off, and
wasn’t under the influence at work. The incident did raise some questions for
Washington cannabis users however.

Where does state law end, and company policy begin? Well,
like most company policies regarding employee’s personal lives, there’s a huge
amount of grey area. Company policy can legally restrict employees from using cannabis
in their off time. How many employers will do that however, remains to be seen.

Just like the use of alcohol or prescriptions drugs, whether
or not employers prohibit cannabis use for their staff largely depends on the
industry. Obviously a surgeon, pilot or fire fighter can’t be consuming a
product that could impair their ability to do their job. But what about in
their off time? As it stands, whether the herb was smoked before work or after,
if you test positive for cannabis, you could lose your job. Which leads to the
problematic nature of testing.

Unlike alcohol and most other drugs, cannabis stays in your
system for well over 30 days. So how can employers know whether you smoked a
joint last weekend, or you’re high right now? Blood tests are more accurate,
but expensive, incredibly inconvenient and time consuming. The lack of a
surefire way to test for intoxication can pose a serious liability and insurance
issue for employers. If you’re responsible for operating heavy machinery for
instance, employers need to be able to guarantee that you’re sober. Without an easy
to administer, accurate test to determine if you’re under the influence at the
moment, employers are in a bind.

There is a test that can determine if you’ve used cannabis
in the last 2-24 hours. ?9 THC (pronounced delta nine THC) is the compound
present in your mouth tissue after you’ve recently smoked cannabis. It differs
from the compound present once the THC has been ingested, THC-COOH, which can
take months to pass through your system. A saliva swab test that checks for the
compound ?9 THC can be very useful for employers and law enforcement who wish
to determine someone’s current sobriety.

Unfortunately swab testing is still in its infancy, and
hasn’t been adopted by law enforcement, insurance companies or employers.
Questions about its accuracy keep it from being widely used. It hasn’t yet been
certified, and it’s still somewhat ineffective at determining exactly when the cannabis
was last used. As of now, it isn’t a tool employers or law enforcement are
willing to use. Hopefully the science will catch up, and employers don’t have
to punish employees for what they choose to do on their free time.

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