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Study Shows Lack of Clear Workplace Cannabis Policy, Potential for Safety Hazards

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As the culture of cannabis and consumption in our day-to-day world continues to evolve, many advocates and organizations are looking into the potential challenges certain institutions, like workplaces, will face if they don’t tighten up gaps surrounding cannabis knowledge and safety.

A U.S. leading nonprofit safety advocate The National Safety Council (NSC) released results of a survey conducted to analyze the risks of cannabis in the workplace and the challenges cannabis legalization presents to employers. The survey was conducted between April and May 2021, with responses representing 500 employers and 1,000 employees.

Ultimately the survey found “significant” gaps in knowledge and safety surrounding cannabis use and the procedures employers have in place to ensure employees understand cannabis policy among the workplace.

The survey found that one-third of employees say they observed cannabis use during work hours; less than half of organizations have a written policy addressing cannabis; employees overall need clear communication about cannabis and their employers’ policies and more than half of employers that eliminated THC testing reported an increase in visible incidents and other performance concerns.

Also, despite the belief of employers, less than half of surveyed employees said they would feel comfortable telling a supervisor they are too impaired to work. Seventy-one percent of employers said they believed employees would feel comfortable coming to a supervisor with a concern over being too impaired, though just 42 percent of employees reported that they would actually be comfortable approaching a supervisor with the concern.

NSC said in a press release that it believes it is the responsibility of the employer to develop a culture surrounding accountability, safety and honesty among employees in regard to cannabis use, regardless of if it’s legal in the employer’s jurisdiction or not.

NSC President and CEO Lorraine Martin expands, “As more states legalize cannabis for recreational and medicinal use, employers must take clear, strong stances to ensure worker safety. Research clearly shows that cannabis impacts a person’s ability to safely perform their job, and we hope employers everywhere will heed our recommendations.”

As cannabis reform continues to reach new bounds across the country, NSC has developed employer guidance that encourages business leaders to take the following key actions: Establish a clear, fair cannabis policy preventing impairment in the workplace and providing support to employees; build a safety-focused, trusting culture for employees to report cannabis use in the workplace; advocate for increased access to employee assistance programs and healthcare benefits for people with substance-use disorders and train supervisors to recognize and respond to workplace impairment.

NSC also plans to share additional employer recommendations along with the launch of the Impairment Recognition and Response Training for Supervisors at the 2021 NSC Safety Congress & Expo in Orlando, FL this month.

The survey follows a mountain of summer news regarding cannabis and the workplace, including shopping giant Amazon’s recent decision to remove drug testing as a condition of pre-employment, including their recent decision to reinstate employment eligibility for former employees and applicants who were previously terminated or deferred due to random or pre-employment cannabis screenings, and its support of certain cannabis-related legislation.

Amazon Senior Vice President of Human Resources Beth Galetti wrote in a blog post, discussing the company’s reasoning as three-fold: In the wake of legalization sweeping the country, it’s become “difficult to implement an equitable, consistent and national pre-employment marijuana testing program.”

She also states that the cannabis testing during pre-employment disproportionately affects people of color, and she adds that Amazon’s consistent growth and outreach for new employees works in conjunction with “eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our applicant pool.”

With a huge company like Amazon making shifts to their culture as cannabis reforms continue to make their way through the company, studies like NSC’s show that while it’s surely the time to re-evaluate policy in line with our modern world, the work for employers and creating a transparent and sage workplace can’t stop there.