 Missouri is currently considering legalizing recreational marijuana use. This past week, the county of St. Louis took it’s own step towards cannabis acceptance.
The city council voted to end cannabis drug screenings for county employees, except for workers in safety-sensitive positions such as those who operate heavy machinery or vehicles, and law enforcement officers. The County Councilwoman who sponsored the bill, Lisa Clancy, said, “People who legally use marijuana for medical purposes shouldn’t be discriminated against AND this policy will remove a barrier to recruitment and hiring.” Similar action has been taken in many other major cities such as Kansas City, Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and most recently, New Orleans. Some states have also taken steps to limit companies use of pre-employment drug testing for cannabis, including Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Montana. The Deputy Director of cannabis advocacy group, NORML, Paul Armentano, said that the old drug testing policies “were never evidence-based and have always been discriminatory. They are relics of the failed ‘war on drugs’ policies of the 1980s and it is time that we move beyond them.” Comments are closed.
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