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ARTICLE · 05 MAY 2022

Weed At Work

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
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The labyrinth of medical and adult-use marijuana laws continues to expand across the United States. At present, 18 states have adult-use programs and 37 states permit cannabis for medicinal use.

United StatesCannabis & Hemp
Dean Rocco
Dean Rocco
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The labyrinth of medical and adult-use marijuana laws continues to expand across the United States. At present, 18 states have adult-use programs and 37 states permit cannabis for medicinal use. Rasmussen, Gallup and Harris polls from 2021 reported that well above 60 percent of Americans favor cannabis “being legal.” In a Gallup poll from August 2021, 49 percent of Americans acknowledged trying cannabis – the highest level ever measured by Gallup. In light of these figures, it is not surprising that human resources departments are increasingly having to confront cannabis-related personnel matters.

Anticipating that the increased use of cannabis under new legalization statutes might conflict with employers' existing drug-free workplace policies, states are beginning to include employee-use rights in their statutory frameworks.

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