Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh lawmakers have enacted municipal legislation protecting state-registered medical cannabis patients from employment discrimination due to their off-the-job marijuana use.
The law defines patients as a “protected class” under local law, thereby making it unlawful for most employers to require them to participate in pre-employment drug testing for marijuana. It also limits most employers’ ability to require qualified patients to undergo marijuana testing while they are on the job, absent suspicion that they are impaired.
Certain employers, such as construction companies and companies subject to federal drug testing regulations, are exempt from the ordinance.
“Gainful employment should be accessible to everyone regardless of the type of medical treatment they receive,” said Rachel Shepherd, The Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations.
Theresa Nightingale, Executive Director of Pittsburgh NORML – which lobbied on behalf of the bill – added: “Many of these patients are seniors, low-income and middle-class Pennsylvanians. Being able to provide for their families is integral to their survival. [It’s] discriminatory to deny them employment based on their medical conditions.”
In recent years, lawmakers in three states – Michigan, Nevada, and Washington – and in numerous other municipalities and counties nationwide – including Atlanta, Cleveland, the District of Columbia, Philadelphia, and St. Louis – have similarly ended pre-employment marijuana screening for most public employees. Several other states — including California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island — have enacted broader workplace protections limiting employers’ ability to either test or sanction workers for their use of cannabis use while off the job.
Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Marijuana Legalization and Impact on the Workplace.’