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Photo: Tomas de Aquino via Flickr (CC by 2.0)

With the first recreational marijuana retail shops now opening in locations throughout Massachusetts, one legislator is proposing protections for employees who choose to use the newly-legal drug on their own time.  The Boston Globe is reporting that Jason Lewis, a state senator from Winchester, Massachusetts, is planning on introducing legislation in the new year that, if passed, would prevent most employers from terminating or disciplining employees for off-duty, legal use of marijuana.Continue Reading Proposed Legislation Would Prevent Employers From Firing Employees For Off-Duty Marijuana Use

Photo: Chuck Coker via Flickr (CC by ND 2.0)
Photo: Chuck Coker via Flickr (CC by ND 2.0)

Last Thursday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) heard oral arguments in a case that asks whether employers can be required to make accommodations for employees’ off-duty use of medical marijuana.

The case was brought by a woman who suffers from Chron’s disease and who treats the condition with marijuana, as authorized by state law.  (Massachusetts voters passed an initiative in 2012 decriminalizing the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes.  In 2016, Massachusetts voters passed a measure decriminalizing marijuana for recreational use.  Marijuana is illegal for all purposes under federal law.)  After the plaintiff accepted an entry-level job at a marketing company, she was told that she would need to take a drug test. 
Continue Reading Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Considers Employees’ Use of Medical Marijuana