What does this mean for employers?
It’s good news. If you conduct a drug test as a condition of hiring, it means that even if a job candidate states they’re using marijuana for medicinal purposes, you may refuse to hire (or even terminate an employee).
Although this law is specific to California, nine other states current allow ‘compassionate’ use of marijuana. And since California is frequently the precursor of laws in the other 49 states, it makes sense now to have a policy in place that defines what drugs are acceptable in your workplace – whether they be ‘legal’, ‘compassionate’, or not.
From Ford Harrison LLP