Marijuana and Psychedelics in Your Workplace

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting from the studios of Business RadioX, it’s time for Advisory Insights. Brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, serving clients nationwide with tailored service and exceptional results. Now, here’s your host.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:20] Hello, everyone. Stuart Oberman here, Advisory Insights Podcast. I tell you, we’re off and running in 2023. It is a pleasure to be back. We look forward to a fantastic year. We’ve got some great, great podcasts coming up, so stay tuned, folks.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:35] But I want to really talk about a topic that is at top of mind. It is a moving target. And I can’t make this up, folks. It’s here. Marijuana and psychedelics in your workplace. Welcome to 2023, folks.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:52] So, what are we looking at? So, as the years have gone on, marijuana is growing an acceptance as therapeutic psychedelics are in the workplace – actually, not in the workplace, but in the employer off-duty, I will say. We’ll get to the employer workplace down the road. So, in 2022, we saw a lot of legalization. We got Maryland. We got Missouri. We got Rhode Island. All legalized use of marijuana.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:25] So, it is not a question of if your state is going to be legalizing marijuana, folks, but it is when. And then, as I said earlier, the question is, what do you do as an employer? And we’re going to touch on a couple of things.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:43] What you have to know is, again, I’m thinking back, you know, 20 years ago, we would have never had this conversation. But now recreational marijuana is now legal in 21 states plus District of Columbia. So, you got to look at, really, a twofold process here. One is legal and then the practical side.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:07] So, you know, some states will prohibit employers from basing adverse employment action on employers or individuals lawful off-duty recreation of marijuana, unless the employee comes to work impaired. Now, what’s happening is that you’ve got employers who are doing pre-hire drug screens, random programs for marijuana, THC. And then, what’s happening is, we have a lot of employers that are not even testing for marijuana usage anymore.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:47] So, one thing we’ve got to take a look at is that, one, are you going to be testing for marijuana? Two, are you going to be taking a blood or urine or are you going to take a hair follicle as a condition for employment? Then, what happens if you test an employee candidate positive, what do you do if that’s a state that legalizes marijuana?

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:15] I would suggest you have a really, really good firm policy. Because a lot of our employers are situated in different states, even though they may be based – I’ll use Delaware. You may have an employer that is in 97 states. There’s so many things you can take a look at, but you’ve got to take a look at, one, whether it’s legal, not legal. But don’t ever forget that under the Federal Law, marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug considered under the Controlled Substance Act. So, you’ve got to take a look at there’s a massive dichotomy between State and Federal.

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:59] The point is that, also, certain psychedelics are making their way into the law. And I’m going to go after Colorado and Oregon. They are becoming very, very active in compounding magic mushrooms. Folks, I can’t make this up. I’m like at a Woodstock concert. I can’t make this up. So, now, you’ve got to take a look, not only marijuana do you have going crazy, but now you’ve got psychedelic mushrooms here.

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:35] Now, true, they are very minuscule in the grade. There are certain restrictions on the usage, the amount. But what’s happening is states are beginning to accept applications for licensure for facilities to administer its regulated psychedelic service programs as of January 2, 2023.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:03] So, if we look at different history, we’ve got Colorado in November of 2022 really approving a message very similar to this. And then, we’re going to have in September, I believe September 30, 2024, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies are going to have to adopt implementation rules for this. Folks, we’re talking mushrooms.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:31] So, I’m going to encourage you that you’ve got to look at, again, I want to point out some cities that are critical. Ann Arbor, Michigan; Denver, Detroit, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, you know, they are all looking at legalizing psychedelic plants and fungi.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:57] So, again, whatever your belief is, it is what it is. But with the usage of marijuana and even the thought about regulating and approving magic mushrooms, you’ve got to take a look at what your policies are as far as drug usage and drug testing. So, it becomes very, very complex and the laws are going to be enacted. You’ve got to understand that as employers, especially employers in those states where you have multi-jurisdictions, multi-states approving marijuana usage, recreational psychedelic drugs.

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:41] Folks, I’m telling you, it’s going to be a great 2023. Stay tuned. Stuart Oberman. Thank you so much for listening to Advisory Insights Podcast. If you need to get a hold of us, please feel free to call, 770-886-2400, or email me, stuart, S-T-U-A-R-T, @obermanlaw.com. Folks, have a fantastic day.

Outro: [00:07:06] Thank you for joining us on Advisory Insights. This show is brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, a business-centric law firm representing local, regional, and national clients in a wide range of practice areas, including healthcare, mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions, and regulatory compliance.