Medical Marijuana: A Fact of Life for Arkansas Employers (Stuart Jackson Commentary)

The election is over, and Arkansas is now the latest of many states to have a medical marijuana law on the books.  Although the new amendment to the Arkansas Constitution is effective immediately, it should take some time for the approved use of medical marijuana to begin. At the very least, someone has to design and print the required "Registry Identification Cards" for users — unless one of your employees shows up with a registry identification card from another state and claims to be a "visiting qualifying patient."   So, what does the new law do? It allows (among other things) "qualifying patients" who have "qualifying medical conditions" certain protections in the workplace.  For instance, employers: Cannot "discriminate" against qualifying patients in the hiring, termination or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize an individual, based upon the individual's past or present status as a qualifying patient; Cannot discipline a qualifying patient for the medical use (which includes actual use or mere possession) of marijuana in accordance with the amendment if he or she possesses not more than 2 1/2 ounces; Cannot discipline a qualifying patient for giving a permitted amount of usable marijuana to another qualifying patient for medical use if nothing is transferred in return; and Cannot discipline anyone for giving a qualified patient marijuana "paraphernalia" to facilitate the use of medical marijuana. "Qualifying medical conditi...
Source: Arkansas Business - Health Care - Category: American Health Source Type: news