The Huffington Post
Almost two-thirds of Americans think it would be unacceptable for a company to fire an employee for off-the-clock marijuana use in states where using marijuana is legal, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll — the same percentage that said it would be unacceptable to fire an employee for off-hours drinking.
According to the new poll, a majority of Americans — 64 percent to 22 percent — think that if marijuana were to be legalized in their state, it would be unacceptable for a company to fire an employee for smoking it during his or her free time.
That’s an identical ratio to the response for whether or not it would be unacceptable for a company to fire an employee for after-hours drinking, with 64 percent saying it would be unacceptable, compared to 22 percent who found it acceptable.
Statement by Ryan Hurley, director of Rose Law Group Medical Marijuana Dept.: “The historic votes in Colorado and Washington state have allowed Americans to have an honest rationale conversation about marijuana and how it is objectively less harmful than alcohol. Because of this, I think the poll results are not surprising and reflect Americans’ increasingly enlightened viewpoints on this issue.
Statement by employment or health care law, contact David Weissman: This line of thinking is consistent with statutes in a number of states (not including Arizona) which generally protect employees from termination for lawful off-duty activities, even if those same activities are prohibited within the workplace. However, at least one court (in Colorado) has held that the off-duty use of marijuana by a registered medical marijuana cardholder is not a “lawful activity” because it is still considered illegal under federal law and therefore not protected.
In Arizona, however, the result would likely be different because the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act specifically protects registered cardholders from employment discrimination based on their status as a cardholder. In any event, if an employee’s off-duty, legal use of marijuana or alcohol has an adverse impact on his or her job performance, the employer would most likely be well within its rights to take action, including termination of employment.
If you’d like to discuss employment or health care law, contact David Weissman, dweissman@roselawgroup.com
If you’d like to discuss medical marijuana, contact Ryan Hurley, director of the Rose Law Group Medical Marijuana Dept. rhurley@roselawgroup.com
