Name: Maine employers ease off testing as cannabis sales soar
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Maine employers ease off testing as cannabis sales soar

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ShareMaine is among the states with legalized cannabis that do not have legal protections in place for recreational users, such as barring employers from testing them for THC, . Meanwhile, the state’s recreational cannabis market has grown rapidly, more than doubling its monthly sales since the market first opened in October.Following the October launch of Maine’s recreational marijuana market, it’s now easier than ever for someone above the age of 21 to partake of cannabis in their spare time, similar to the level of access for someone who might drink alcohol at the end of the day.“The simple fact that someone uses marijuana does not mean they’re going to be an unsafe employee,” Collins said.Given Maine’s typically tight job market, most employers in the state are averse to hiring policies that could scare away qualified, law-abiding applicants.“It’s hard enough to find people to work in a lot of blue-collar jobs in the state, and what I’ve noticed is that not testing for marijuana gives you a larger applicant pool,” Collins said. “Whether testing for marijuana has a chilling effect on people (applying) or not, I’m not sure, but it would take a lot of otherwise qualified people out of an applicant pool or otherwise narrow one that was too narrow in the first place.”‘A PERSONAL CHOICE’Mary Allen Lindemann, co-founder of Portland’s Coffee By Design, said the company does not test applicants for drug use but noted that&nbsp;lenient hiring processes are even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic when so many people are looking for work.“What someone does outside of work is a personal choice as long as it’s legal,” Lindemann said. “Whatever they do at home is not an issue, but they’re not permitted to be under the influence” while at work.Some larger companies and organizations including Hannaford Supermarkets and the University of Maine System have similar policies, which, like Coffee By Design’s, have not changed since recreational cannabis was legalized. They don’t require applicants to be tested, but they still prohibit drugs and alcohol in the workplace.Instead, many employers are now focusing on making sure employees are not high while on the job, something that isn’t always easy.“There’s still not any definitive way to test whether someone is impaired from marijuana like they can test for alcohol,” Collins said. “(There is) no way to test on the spot.”Different methods such as saliva testing may detect more recent marijuana use than testing urine or hair follicles, but the results are not conclusive.Other ways to test whether a person is impaired, such as an app that tests the subject’s reaction time, decision-making ability and hand-eye coordination, are on the market or are in development, but Collins said such apps have not been sufficiently vetted to be used as evidence in court.Still, the ability to test on the spot may give some employers comfort, she said, rather than including THC as part of a standard testing panel.There are some situations in which employers have to test for marijuana use.An employee holding a commercial driver’s license, for example, must be tested for drugs and alcohol per federal guidelines. Jobs requiring the use of a firearm or other weapons, as well as cThe issue is further convoluted by medical marijuana protections, which place an “extremely difficult overlay” on any policy, she said.“There are a lot of people who use medical marijuana for medical conditions that very well may be disabilities,” she said. “(Employers are) not allowed to discriminate against anyone to medicate, but it doesn’t mean they can behave inappropriately. It has to be nuanced.”Lindemann is familiar with keeping that balance.She has had employees who have been prescribed medical marijuana to manage their health, and the company has had to make exceptions while making sure it will not impair job performance, especially for those working with equipment, she said.TESTING STILL LEGALWhile the decision to drug-test is typically left up to the employer, the state of Maine currently requires that medical marijuana dispensaries administer a drug test to all applicants, though according to Maine Office of Marijuana Policy spokesman David Heidrich, that is likely to change.Last month, the office released a list of proposed changes to the medical cannabis program rules that would eliminate the testing requirement, Heidrich said.Charlie Langston, managing director of Wellness Connection of Maine, poses for a portrait at the company’s recreational cannabis store High North in South Portland.Amanda O’Leary, planning and research associate for the Maine Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Standards, helps businesses navigate the state’s drug testing laws as they draft policies.“The bottom line is that employers can still test for marijuana, and the majority that have tested continue,” she said. “We are seeing in some industries – and they are widely varied – they are removing marijuana from their panels, (and) those that are still testing for it might be a little bit more lenient nowadays if they test positive.”She recommends that employers look at their business and determine if drug testing is relevant to them.Any company “that really wants to ensure they have a really good healthy workplace might want to consider they have a testing program,” she said, adding that employers should consult their own legal counsel when creating a policy.Each employer with a drug testing policy approved by the Maine Department of Labor is required to report its testing activities annually.POSITIVE TESTS INCREASEAccording to a 2019 report on substance use testing by Maine employers conducted by the Maine Department of Labor, only 540 Maine businesses have state-approved substance use testing policies.In 2019, 26,173 drug tests were performed with a 7 percent positivity rate, the highest percentage since the program was created in 1989. Cannabinoids accounted for roughly 92 percent of the positive tests.The vast majority, 25,048, were applicant tests. Just 24 were conducted with “probable cause,” and 1,101 were done as part of a random or arbitrary practice.The percentage of positive tests has been steadily increasing since marijuana legalization, with 4.8 percent in 2016, 5.7 percent in 2017 and 5.8 percent in 2018. It is unknown how October’s launch of the recreational cannabis market might affect data for 2020 and 2021, but O’Leary said she is confident marijuana will continue to account for the highest positivity rate of any drug.Like Maine, Massachusetts and Colorado also don’t protect recreational cannabis users from employer-mandated drug tests, but last year, Nevada became the first state to ban employers from drug-testing applicants for THC. New York City followed suit later that year.In both Nevada and New York City, there are restrictions in place for safety-sensitive positions or those in which federal law would require the employee to submit to drug screening tests.Invalid username/password.Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.Enter your email and password to access comments.Hi, to comment on stories you must create a commenting profile. This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login. Already have a commenting profile? Login.Invalid username/password.Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please or first for digital access. .Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.Log out of Commentsto the editors.filed under:, , ,Related StoriesLatest Articles|| Press HeraldX

ShareMaine is among the states with legalized cannabis that do not have legal protections in place for recreational users, such as barring employers from testing them for THC, . Meanwhile, the state’s recreational cannabis market has grown rapidly, more than doubling its monthly sales since the market first opened in October.Following the October launch of Maine’s recreational marijuana market, it’s now easier than ever for someone above the age of 21 to partake of cannabis in their spare time, similar to the level of access for someone who might drink alcohol at the end of the day.“The...

Maine employers ease off testing as cannabis sales soar

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