They must allow the employee to provide a valid reason for the drug test. If an employee can present a medical marijuana card, the employer cannot fire or retaliate against the employee or prospective employee. New Jersey believes that the legal use of medical cannabis is covered by New Jersey disability laws. For job seekers, it may be important to inform your employer, before a drug test, that you are taking medical marijuana to treat specific conditions.
As long as employees are not under the influence of drugs at work, the state Supreme Court said medical marijuana patients remain protected by the Anti-Discrimination Act, echoing a previous appellate court decision. However, the bill allows an employer to “consider an employee's ability to perform the necessary functions of the job if they are affected in any way as a result of the use of medical marijuana. Now, at the end of its first decade, New Jersey has 1,000 doctors participating in medical marijuana options. People undergoing cancer treatment, who have chronic musculoskeletal pain, or who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, among many other problems, benefit from access to medical marijuana in the state.
They can't fire you for using marijuana outside of work, but they can punish you for showing up for work under the influence or for using marijuana at work, if they have a policy against it. More than 70,000 residents are enrolled in New Jersey's medical marijuana program, according to the state health department. Taken together, these bans seem, at least today, to create an absolute ban on the use of medical marijuana in any school setting. Changes to the program last year also added text that explicitly prevents someone from being fired just because of their participation in the medical marijuana program and established rules that employers must follow when someone fails a drug test.
The case began in Bergen County and Tuesday's ruling further defines protections for more than 70,000 medical marijuana patients across the state. However, nothing in the NJLAD allows employees to use marijuana, medical or otherwise, during work hours or on workplace facilities outside of normal business hours. New Jersey recently joined a growing number of states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma and Rhode Island, that offer certain labor protections to employees and applicants who use medical marijuana. This year, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a ruling that says New Jersey workers cannot be fired by their employer for failing to pass a drug test because of their legal use of medical marijuana.
Recent efforts to license new places to buy medical marijuana have been delayed by court battles and shortages, advocates say, are driving up prices. For example, the bill would specifically provide for a ban on punishment simply because an employee holds such a card or has tested positive for marijuana, provided that it comes from appropriate and medically sanctioned medical use. While the law remains unresolved regarding “recreational use of marijuana,” it is best not to use or obtain marijuana illegally, even for a “valid medical purpose.”.
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