Marijuana in the Workplace

In the last 50 years, the support for marijuana legalization has increased by more than 5 times. And with all this support a lot has changed in so many states. Although many states are still outright banning all marijuana use and sales, many are fully legal and even more are somewhere in between.

The most lenient of states for marijuana use include Alaska, which allows citizens to possess up to 1 ounce regardless of purpose, in Colorado businesses like restaurants and hotels can now have designed cannabis-smoking sections, Oregon allows citizens to maintain up to a 24 ounce supply of medical marijuana, and citizens can grow up to 24 cannabis plants at a time, and more states also have very lenient laws. But many other states also have very strict laws when it comes to marijuana. In South Dakota, for example, all possession means potential jail time, as possession of hash or concentrates is a felony, with up to 5 years of time in jail and a $10,000 fine, and South Dakota is the only state that punishes those who test positive for past marijuana use – even if was consumed in a state where marijuana use is legal, Iowa remains firmly draconian whereas more states are progressive, Indiana had over 9,000 people arrested for a marijuana related offense in 2012, and more states remain firmly against marijuana usage, while others are considering leniency.

With more states allowing marijuana usage, people are bringing it to work. Nearly half of users in legalized states even admit to using cannabis before or even at work, and users go to work high often, nearly half go to work high weekly.. But people bringing marijuana to work isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as 75% say being high improves their work performance. 

Find out the future of marijuana at work and how it can affect your business here.