Cannabis Use Policy for Employers

Darshan: So the talk today is about, what should employers do about employees who use cannabis? Narrator: This is the DarshanTalks podcast. Regulatory guy, irregular podcast, with host Darshan Kulkarni. You can find the show on Twitter @DarshanTalks or the show's website at darshantalks.com. Darshan: Let's first take a step back and talk about the fact that, what are the laws around cannabis? So to do that appropriately, what you really have to start thinking about is, what level are you talking about? There is the federal level, there's the state level, and then there's the local level. At the federal level you've got the DEA, USDA, and FDA, who basically take the position that there are ... For the most part, the DEA asserts that it's a schedule one substance, cannabis is a schedule one. And when I say cannabis I really mean THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. It's a schedule one, and in those specific instances there's no good reason to use it. Having said that, it does have exceptions. For example, there are products like Marinol that are actually FDA approved, and therefore the DEA takes the position that that specific one is okay and appropriate, assuming certain other conditions are met. The FDA, like I said, has done an evaluation, and for very specific reasons and very specific positions, they have approved THC and CBD-containing products. Darshan: And again, they've been synthetic versus naturally produced, etc., etc., etc. And we don't need to get into the details of this. It's really more about, what is the federal level versus the state level kind of issues. And then the USDA, which actually has a slightly different version on all of this. And it basically says that, it ties itself basically to the states, and we'll talk about that in a second. So for the most part it's illegal at the federal level unless you've actually gone through the FDA approval process. On the other hand, at the state level they take a slightly different position. And individual states have actually said that depending on whether it's for ... Some states basically still do the blanket, "It's illegal." There are some states who say that you can use it, but it has to be for medicinal uses. Darshan: And there's another piece, another group of states that come out and say, "We'll allow it not only for medical but also for recreational use. And for medical reasons you have to meet certain conditions, and that it has to be one of 22 or 23 different indications. And again, each state chooses which ones they want. It may be more than 23, it may be less than 23. But that's really where it stands. And then you've got the recreational, which, it's not tied to a specific disease at all. And then you've got the local, which basically is, some cities like ... Well, before I go to the local, we spoke about state, we talked about medicinal uses versus recreational uses. And the USDA takes the position that if you're going to do state level cannabis, the labs that measure this need to be DEA approved. Darshan: And that's become a source of issues. And the DEA is now taking a step back from that position, the USDA is taking a step back from that position, but that's really where that world plays. And again, we can get into details if you need to reach out to me. Darshan: At the local level, you have cities taking the position that, "Yes, we recognize that at the federal level it's generally illegal to use cannabis. However, we're not going to prosecute," which basically means that they're "decriminalizing." So at no point is it legalized, it is just decriminalized. And that's the distinction between the two. On the other hand, when you actually start looking at the different states, they do have, from an employee/employer standpoint,