By Alexa Franklin
To what degree will Maryland’s new laws involving the decriminalization and legal medical use of marijuana affect businesses, prospective employees, and drug policies and testing in Frederick County? Probably less than you think.
Starting October 2014, the use or possession of 10 grams of marijuana or fewer will be decriminalized and will instead be considered a civil offense. Offenders will be subject to a fine of up to $100 for a first offense. For a second offense, the fine jumps up to $250. The fine can be up to $500 for subsequent offenses.
In addition, marijuana has been approved for medicinal use for patients suffering from nausea, seizures, severe pain, and muscle spasms, and will be sold at licensed dispensaries.
The employee handbook for the City of Frederick states that the city holds a drug and alcohol-free workplace policy, which applies to all employees who work for the city.
Donna Kuzemchak, of Frederick’s Board of Aldermen, said in a video interview that she does not believe that the City of Frederick requires drug testing for all employees before being hired, but that most are subject to random drug-testing after employment. That is also not expected to change in the wake of the new laws.
Tracey Black, programs manager at Corporate Occupational Health Solutions LLC, in Frederick, said that the decriminalization of marijuana has in no way affected workplace drug testing, and that “no one foresees that it ever will.” This includes the amount of marijuana that is tested for.
“Even states like Denver where marijuana is legal, employers still retain the right to have a drug free workplace policy,” she said. “Also, the Department of Transportation, which oversees truck drivers throughout the country, will never change their position on drug and alcohol testing for these drivers.”
Black said that it is hard to determine whether or not 10 grams of marijuana would produce a positive test because of the amount of possible variables. The “positive” level on a drug test in no way relates to the exact amount smoked by a person.
“Every person is different, so there is no one answer to give to that,” Black said. “It all depends on the person and how their body metabolizes the THC in their system, and how often they are doing it.”
While it is legal for an employer to deny employment to a person that does drugs in Maryland, Kuzemchak said that the employer would need to have a drug policy already in place beforehand that states that drug users will not be hired. The concern is mainly about the safety of the user and his or her coworkers, and about productivity levels.
But the rules start to become unclear where those who use marijuana for medicinal purposes are concerned.
According to Kuzemchak, nobody is able to answer the question of whether or not is it okay to refuse to hire a person who is a medical marijuana user yet. She said, “If you are using it for a medical reason, then you’re talking about the whole disabilities act, and you can have all kinds of issues there.”
Still, medical marijuana users looking for work wouldn’t necessarily have a harder time finding it. Keith Hamilton, manager of Frederick’s Wild Birds Unlimited store, said that if an applicant for employment was a known smoker, it would not influence his hiring decision. Even if marijuana were to become totally legal in Maryland, he said, “What they do on their own time is their business. Their performance at work is my concern.”
What does the future hold for marijuana in Maryland? Kuzemchak has no doubt that marijuana will be fully legalized in Maryland in the future.
“Honestly, full legalization makes much more sense. . .I just think we are over-thinking this. I really do,” she said, adding that she thinks decriminalization is an unnecessary step that “muddies the waters.”
While Kuzemchak agrees that attending a job while under the influence of a mind-altering substance is a problem, she points out that over-the-counter medications can also affect a person’s job performance. For that reason, she believes that people need to look at all mind-altering substances, including marijuana, in the same way.
“A drug is a drug is a drug,” she said. “The question is, ‘does it change my work performance?’ or ‘does it change my ability to get to and from my job?’ . . . It concerns me that we have this issue with marijuana at a federal level, yet I can have a back issue and take some pretty heavy medications that are going to make me unable to drive, unable to perform a job.”
Because these laws were only just enacted, there are still many kinks and technicalities that have to be smoothed out. It is expected that citizens will have answers to the many questions surrounding the laws by the time they take effect this coming fall.