To safeguard workers who use medical marijuana, a council in Louisiana has spent months debating policy proposals, and they approved more than a dozen suggestions to forward to the state legislature, according to a report in Marijuana Moment.
Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans) drafted a study resolution that resulted in the Employment and Medical Marijuana Task Force, which held its final meeting after hearing from Louisiana workers who were worried about losing their jobs if they tested positive for marijuana, which is legal for medical use in the state.
The vast majority of task force members agreed with the suggestions, but Troy Prevot, who represents the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, a powerful lobbying group in Baton Rouge, was opposed.
Physician’s assistant Prevot, who runs a drug testing clinic for employers in Baton Rouge, expressed concern that the proposals could add further uncertainty to an already difficult situation for companies.
There is a chance for businesses and employee groups to meet and talk about drug policies in the workplace right now. Prevot warned that attempts to legislate the issue could stymie progress.
The task force voted 11 to 2 to propose that businesses can’t treat employees differently because they were or are qualified medical marijuana patients in the past or present.
The vote count for ten further proposals was identical: 11-2. A lawyer with experience in workers’ compensation cases named Dennis Judge agreed with Prevot.
According to Judge, the government should not regulate companies’ drug policies or other economic practices.
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