A new statewide bill introduced in Colorado will prevent employers from terminating workers who consume cannabis while off-the-clock.<\/p>\n
The bill, HB 20-1089<\/u><\/a>, was filed by Rep. Jovan Melton (D-Denver). Unlike similar laws recently passed in Nevada<\/u><\/a> and Oklahoma<\/u><\/a>, the bill does not exempt employers who oversee workers in \u201csafety sensitive\u201d positions such as law enforcement, healthcare, construction, or transportation. In other words, as it\u2019s currently written, the bill protects all adults <\/em>from being terminated just for consuming weed on their own time, regardless of their job duties.<\/p>\n However, the bill will likely not apply to federal employers, such as government contractors for public services. Furthermore, the bill does not permit onsite or on-duty weed use, so if a cop gets blazed<\/u><\/a> while on patrol, they can still be legally terminated.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a glaring gap that we have here in the statute, especially when we\u2019re supposed to regulate marijuana like we are with alcohol,\u201d Melton told the Denver Post<\/em><\/u><\/a>. \u201cIf someone\u2019s able to drink while they\u2019re at home and on their free time, as long as they\u2019re not coming into work intoxicated, then they\u2019re not penalized with their employment.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cglaring gap\u201d has been in Colorado for a long time. Nearly 20 years ago, the state legalized medical marijuana. Then, in 2012, voters approved Amendment 64, the law that launched America\u2019s first legal recreational weed market. Yet despite the huge strides that the Centennial State has made over the last two decades, company policies still treat medical and recreational weed consumers like irresponsible criminals. <\/p>\n