NY is the first state to prohibit employers from testing (most) employees for weed

New York residents no longer have to worry about losing their jobs to recreational marijuana use. The New York Department of Labor has confirmed that employers are now banned from testing their employees for cannabis, reports Marijuana Moment.

While employers are still allowed to punish employees for impairment in the workplace, the threshold for demonstrating impairment has been raised significantly – the smell of weeds alone is not sufficient evidence. Even according to the new guidelines of the New York Department of Labor, a positive drug test for cannabis does not lead to an “articulable symptom of impairment”.

New York was “the first state to substantially prohibit cannabis testing in all but narrowly defined situations,” according to it Quest diagnosis, which offers occupational drug testing services.

Faye Caldwell, an attorney and advisor specializing in drug testing laws, said the move represented a “seismic” policy change.

RELATED: The End of Pre-Hiring Drug Testing Doesn’t Mean You Still Can’t Get Fired For Marijuana

“This is the first state in the nation to ever step into this,” she said. “In most other states, in many circumstances there is no way to take action, but there has been no testing ban,” the point of sale wrote. “So this is going to bring some massive changes for employers who have employees in New York State and who have drug testing guidelines.”

In 2019, about two years before cannabis was officially legalized in the state, New York City regulators enacted a local ban on drug testing prior to setting on marijuana.

RELATED: Will Weed Drug Tests Go Away Forever?

“Random marijuana testing in the workplace, such as pre-employment drug screening, has never been an evidence-based policy. Rather, this discriminatory practice is a holdover from the ‘war on drugs’ zeitgeist of the 1980s, ”Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment.

“But the times have changed; Attitudes have changed, and in many places marijuana laws have changed. It is time for workplace policies to adapt to this new reality and stop punishing employees for activities outside of their working hours that do not pose a threat to workplace safety. “

Amazon and others agree

Additionally, one such giant company, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced in June that it would support marijuana legalization and discontinue workplace cannabis use testing in most positions.

RELATED: Amazon’s Cannabis Policy Will Apply Retrospectively – Previously Rejected Applicants Are Now Eligible For Jobs

More recently, the Office of Personnel Management issued a memo to federal agencies confirming that previous cannabis use should not automatically exclude people from employment in the federal government. The NBA also announced that it will extend its policy of not randomly testing players for marijuana for drugs through the 2021-2022 season.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.