Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bills To Protect Marijuana Users From Employment Discrimination And Expand Medical Cannabis Program

Massachusetts lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills that would provide
employment protections for marijuana consumers and expand the state’s
medical cannabis program, in part by adding post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and opioid use disorder to the list of qualifying conditions.

The legislature’s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy reported the two
measures out favorably on Tuesday.

Rep. Michael Soter (R) sponsored the medical marijuana expansion
legislation, which would amend the existing state statute to include PTSD
and opioid use disorder as conditions that could qualify patients for
cannabis if recommended by a doctor.

Additionally, the bill would revise the statute to make it so military
veterans who receive health care from the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) could qualify for medical cannabis if they provide
documentation “indicating a diagnosis of a debilitating medical condition.”

The other bill that moved through the joint committee, sponsored by Rep.
Michael Kushmerek (D), would bar employers from refusing to hire, terminate
or under-compensate a worker based on the presence of THC metabolites in a
drug test, “unless reasonable suspicion exists that the employee was
impaired by marijuana at the employee’s place of employment or during the
hours of employment.”

Further, the legislation would make it so it “shall be a defense to such
employment action if the employee, due to the presence of
tetrahydrocannabinol or marijuana metabolite in the blood, urine or other
body sample provided by the individual, is unable to maintain licenses,
credentials, or other qualifications that are reasonably necessary for the
performance of the employee’s position, regardless of whether such
licensing, credentialing, or other qualifications prohibit the employee
from using marijuana.”

“This section shall not apply to safety sensitive positions or if
compliance would cause the employer to commit a violation of a federal law,
regulation, contract, or funding agreement,” the bill text states.

As the measures are advancing, the attorney general of Massachusetts
recently published dozens of proposed initiatives for the 2026
ballot—including a pair that would roll back adult-use marijuana
legalization in the state.

The two marijuana measures—which would eliminate the commercial adult-use
market while maintaining patient access under the medical cannabis program
and continuing to allow lawful possession of up to an ounce of recreational
marijuana—are being spearheaded by Caroline Cunningham, who previously
fought against a psychedelics legalization ballot initiative that voters
ultimately rejected last year.

Whether the cannabis measures will make the ballot is yet to be seen.
Voters approved legalization at the ballot in 2016, with sales launching
two years later. And the past decade has seen the market evolve and expand.
As of last month, Massachusetts officials reported more than $8 billion in
adult-use marijuana sales.


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policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
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Regulators are also working to finalize rules to allow for a new cannabis
consumption lounge license type, which they hope to complete by October.

Separately, in May, the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) launched an
online platform aimed at helping people find jobs, workplace training and
networking opportunities in the state’s legal cannabis industry.

State lawmakers have also been considering setting tighter restrictions on
intoxicating hemp-derived products and a plan to allow individual entities
to control a larger number of cannabis establishments.

Also in Massachusetts, legislators who were working on a state budget
butted heads with CCC officials, who’ve said they can’t make critical
technology improvements without more money from the legislature.

*Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.*

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From Employment Discrimination And Expand Medical Cannabis Program appeared
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