Robert Celt
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Jo McGuire, senior project manager for TSS, 906 Main St., Keokuk, spoke with business owners Thursday about changes that can occur if medical marijuana is legalized in Iowa.
The current state law, which allows some epilepsy patients to use cannabis oil, doesn't give patients a clear system for accessing it.
There's been a strong lobbying effort to pass a bill that would expand access to medical marijuana in Iowa. Supporters say the legislation, which would create a system for manufacturing, dispensing and possessing it in the state, would have benefits for people with multiple health conditions.
McGuire lives near Colorado Springs, Colo., and sees the effects of legal marijuana on a daily basis. Her state is in its fourth year of legal cannabis.
Since the legalization of marijuana in 2012, Colorado has seen a 20 percent increase in positive marijuana tests in the workplace, according to the 2014 Quest Diagnostics Drug Test Index.
McGuire had a slide show that included pictures of products that can look normal from a shelf, but actually are sprayed with a high tetrahydrocannabinol oil potency. THC is the chemical responsible for the physical effects of marijuana.
The chemical attaches to receptors in the brain and activates them, affecting a person's memory, pleasure, movements, thinking, concentration, coordination, and sensory and time perception, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
A law legalizing marijuana does not make marijuana use in the workplace legal, even with a prescription card. Individual companies are responsible for providing employees with a handbook that has policies regarding alcohol and drugs in the workplace. McGuire recommends that businesses require employees to view and sign the policies more than once a year.
"It really depends on what the company's turnover rate is," she said.
Companies with high turnover should review the drug and alcohol policy more often than companies with low turnover rates, according to McGuire.
She said there have been supreme court cases in states with legalized medical marijuana in which employees have tested positive for marijuana during random drug testing, and have been fired from the job. Employees then file a lawsuit becuase they believe they have been wrongfully fired. However, the employers who provided rules against drugs in the workplace have protection from such suits.
In June 2015, a Colorado quadriplegic who worked for Dish Network and used medical marijuana outside the workplace, was fired for failing a random drug test. The case went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court, but the former employee lost the case because Dish Network had a strict policy on drugs in the workplace.
Rep. Jerry Kearns D-Keokuk, said Friday that he believes if medical marijuana is legalized in the State of Iowa, restrictions should be applied to workplaces. Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant, agreed during the Legislative Luncheon at the Hawkeye.
McGuire also attended the luncheon, and gave Kearns and Taylor information from her own first-hand experiences as a Colorado resident.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Iowa: Rx Pot Not Legal At Workplace
Author: Emma VanArsdale
Contact: Daily Gate City
Photo Credit: Business Journals
Website: Daily Gate City
The current state law, which allows some epilepsy patients to use cannabis oil, doesn't give patients a clear system for accessing it.
There's been a strong lobbying effort to pass a bill that would expand access to medical marijuana in Iowa. Supporters say the legislation, which would create a system for manufacturing, dispensing and possessing it in the state, would have benefits for people with multiple health conditions.
McGuire lives near Colorado Springs, Colo., and sees the effects of legal marijuana on a daily basis. Her state is in its fourth year of legal cannabis.
Since the legalization of marijuana in 2012, Colorado has seen a 20 percent increase in positive marijuana tests in the workplace, according to the 2014 Quest Diagnostics Drug Test Index.
McGuire had a slide show that included pictures of products that can look normal from a shelf, but actually are sprayed with a high tetrahydrocannabinol oil potency. THC is the chemical responsible for the physical effects of marijuana.
The chemical attaches to receptors in the brain and activates them, affecting a person's memory, pleasure, movements, thinking, concentration, coordination, and sensory and time perception, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
A law legalizing marijuana does not make marijuana use in the workplace legal, even with a prescription card. Individual companies are responsible for providing employees with a handbook that has policies regarding alcohol and drugs in the workplace. McGuire recommends that businesses require employees to view and sign the policies more than once a year.
"It really depends on what the company's turnover rate is," she said.
Companies with high turnover should review the drug and alcohol policy more often than companies with low turnover rates, according to McGuire.
She said there have been supreme court cases in states with legalized medical marijuana in which employees have tested positive for marijuana during random drug testing, and have been fired from the job. Employees then file a lawsuit becuase they believe they have been wrongfully fired. However, the employers who provided rules against drugs in the workplace have protection from such suits.
In June 2015, a Colorado quadriplegic who worked for Dish Network and used medical marijuana outside the workplace, was fired for failing a random drug test. The case went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court, but the former employee lost the case because Dish Network had a strict policy on drugs in the workplace.
Rep. Jerry Kearns D-Keokuk, said Friday that he believes if medical marijuana is legalized in the State of Iowa, restrictions should be applied to workplaces. Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant, agreed during the Legislative Luncheon at the Hawkeye.
McGuire also attended the luncheon, and gave Kearns and Taylor information from her own first-hand experiences as a Colorado resident.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Iowa: Rx Pot Not Legal At Workplace
Author: Emma VanArsdale
Contact: Daily Gate City
Photo Credit: Business Journals
Website: Daily Gate City
