Conflicting Marijuana Laws Create Confusion
During our country’s recent November elections, quite a few state-level initiatives relating to marijuana were placed before voters. The new or amended initiatives in the states of Colorado, Washington, Massachusetts, and Montana are varied in their focus, but the main issues address two broad areas of marijuana law: medical marijuana and recreational marijuana.
Federal vs. State Conflicts
As with any new legislation, a great amount of confusion surrounds the interpretation and enforcement of these new measures and how their implementation will affect a wide array of individuals, organizations, and industries. The conflict between contradictory federal and state laws is also apt to escalate with the decriminalization of recreational marijuana use in a couple of states, whereas the passing of previous medical marijuana initiatives have been unofficially tolerated by federal agencies.
Workplace and Drugged Driving Issues
Some initial perplexity will also likely be experienced in the workplace as employers attempt to determine what, if any, changes should be made to their existing drug-free workplace policies and drug-testing procedures. And even though driving under the influence of marijuana will still be illegal, one state has controversially introduced a specific intoxication level to identify offenders. The measures have also elicited a hardline response from the director of The Department of Transportation (D.O.T.). (Click Here to read D.O.T’s response.)
Read More…
To read a more in-depth summary of the marijuana issues created by the new laws please click the following link: (Extended Write-up)