State lawmakers have advanced several priority bills to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk and a few more remain pending but are up against a tight timeline. The legislative session in California ends on August 31st. Any bills not transmitted to the Governor will die after that date. (Once advanced to the Governor, he has 30 days to act on the bills.)
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam has signed House Bill 1862 into law, which provides employment protections for state-registered medical cannabis patients.
Newly published reports allege that “dozens of young White House staffers have been suspended, asked to resign, or placed in a remote work program due to past marijuana use.”
“The present study provides empirical evidence on the consequences of marijuana legalization on issues related to the labor market outcomes, in particular, WC [workers’ compensation] claiming of older adults. … Our findings suggest potentially important benefits to older workers and society at large.”
“We found that workers reporting using cannabis more than once in the past year were no more likely to report having experienced a work-related injury over the same time period in a large cohort of the Canadian working population.”
“Times have changed; attitudes have changed, and in many places, the marijuana laws have changed. It is time for workplace policies to adapt to this new reality.”
“All that is needed by Congress is the passage of a one line legislative fix to protect tens-of-thousands of American jobs in a supply chain that serves over three million medical marijuana patients.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an order on Tuesday providing explicit protections for certain District employees who consume cannabis while away from the job. The new rules apply to all District government agencies under the direct administrative authority of the Mayor.