Feds Update Marijuana Enforcement Policy
Author: Tracy Morley, XpertHR Legal Editor
August 30, 2013
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it is relaxing its marijuana enforcement policy and will not challenge state laws legalizing marijuana use for either medical or recreational purposes. This announcement comes in response to recent state ballot initiatives that legalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana and regulate the production, processing and sale of marijuana.
A memorandum to all US Attorneys from Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole makes clear that although marijuana remains an illegal drug, federal prosecutors will focus their efforts on eight specific areas of enforcement. These include:
- Preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors; and
- Preventing revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises.
Many states have medical marijuana laws in place, and both Colorado and Washington have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. As the trend to legalize the use of marijuana for medical and/or recreational purposes continues, employers may experience challenges in implementing workplace policies, such as:
- Interaction of marijuana use with drug testing policies for current and prospective employees;
- Interaction of marijuana use with drug-free workplace policies;
- Application of marijuana use to off duty conduct rules;
- Whether marijuana is treated the same as other illegal drugs so that a detectible amount in an employee's system violates the employer's drug policy; and
- If the employer should implement an under the influence standard for marijuana, similar to what is used for alcohol.