The Growing Concerns Over Marijuana Use in The Workplace

The issue of marijuana usage has always been sensitive. Many believe it to have it’s positive and negatives. For example, until recently there is growing evidence that marijuana can help with seizures and other medical conditions. That has forced states to take another look at marijuana usage and if they should allow it recreationally. As a matter if fact, some states like Colorado have already legalized it and now have dispensaries popping up everywhere. This has made entrepreneurs a lot of money. Marijuana usage accounts for roughly $2 billion dollars in profits annually. That’s a staggering amount which has other states looking to follow suit. For example, profits from marijuana usage can help pay for better infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and other social programs.

However, with every positive, there’s always going to be some sort of negative association. Since Colorado legalized marijuana usage, you have more people doing it in the workplace which has increased safety concerns. Businesses are not only worried about profits but have to keep a close eye on how marijuana usage is affecting employee productivity and safety. Today, I’ll be exploring the major concerns employers have with recreational drugs in the workplace.

• Safety
• Changing attitudes
• Matter of policy
• Increased medical costs
• Compliance with state law

Safety Concerns

One of the main reasons why companies are concerned about marijuana in the workplace is because of safety. For example, marijuana usage could increase job accidents and injuries because the short-term effects of using the drugs have been known to impair body movement. It also causes workers to have a delay in analytical thinking, problem-solving, and impaired sense of time. Construction sites have seen an impact because employees are in charge of heavy equipment while working in a team environment. When an employee is using recreational marijuana and operating this equipment, it increases the likelihood of a major group injury. Here is a statement from ohsonline.com –

“The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine concluded that there is a likely statistical association between illicit drug use, including marijuana, and workplace accidents.” – ohsonline.com”

This statement makes you wonder how much of a negative effect marijuana may have in the workplace, and if the state legislation should make changes right away. Not only that, we must also think about how marijuana affects those operating transport vehicles like buses, trains, etc.

Changing Attitudes

Some employers have noticed a change in employee attitudes. For example, there has been increased issue with attendance and productivity which has hurt profits within a company. The fewer people showing up to work on time, the less productive they are in the workplace.

Many companies are pushing to allow marijuana in the workplace after certain times or days. This way they can ensure that employees are sober during high productivity times and days during the week.

Matter of Policy

Marijuana usage in the workplace is destroying the culture which has taken years to build. The workplace has always been a place of success, competition, and professionalism. legalizing marijuana has an impact on this culture. For example, imagine a fortune 500 company with shareholders having to state that their employees use marijuana? This type of statement can have an impact on share prices and devalue the company. For years companies have worked hard at getting legislation passed to protect the workplace, employees. However, having employee’s use marijuana undermines this effort.

The good news is many state laws allow marijuana use as long as workplace safety is not jeopardized. This way employers have ultimate control over whether they will allow it or not.

Increased Medical Costs

A few weeks back I wrote about how drug use within the workplace increases medical costs on the company. This has always been a growing concern and is a major reason why companies are pushing to ban the usage. If you have an employee intoxicated because of drugs and are involved in a serious accident, then the company will have to cover medical costs. These costs can be very high and hurt the bottom line. In the end, companies are trying to avoid accidents because of drug use and growing concerns about increased medical costs.

Many companies are now pushing for laws stating that if an accident is caused because of intoxication then they should NOT be responsible for medical costs.

Compliance Issues

Here’s the problem –

If you ban marijuana from the workplace, then how do you ensure employees are not smoking while on the job? Many employers are now trying to implement random drug tests going forward however they are running into problems especially when the state allows recreational use. Workers are stating that they smoked marijuana before starting work which again causes a compliance issue that is very hard to tackle. For now, companies have started to implement random marijuana drug testing to protect the work environment.

Companies in states where marijuana usage has been legalized are working hard at making sure both the employee and employer benefit from this change in policy. In the end, this continues to be an uphill battle with no end in near sight.

Featured photo credit: hrwatchdog.calchamber.com via hrwatchdog.calchamber.com

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Source: Lifehack.org