Policy Changes Underway
As we've recently talked a lot about the decriminalization of marijuana in Virginia and as many other states get on board, what exactly does that mean for things such as drug testing at jobs and policies on college campuses.
Last week Amazon came out and made an announcement that they would be backing up federal legislation by stopping the screening of marijuana use for applicants in certain job classifications.
However, Amazon isn't the first employer to take a step back relaxing their drug testing policies. In fact over a decade ago the FBI made a change to their policy which previously barred applicant who had once smoked pot.
Additionally as applicant pools became smaller many local police departments had been making these changes off the radar as well.
And even today, all American professional sports leagues have relaxed cannabis testing or plan to do so, led by the NHL which now only busts players with “dangerously” high levels of THC.
This is just the start as we anticipate many more Employers taking a look at the archaic policies of the past and making changes that are in line with the legislative changes taking place.
However, while Employers begin to make these changes, Virginia Tech has become the first major institute of higher learning in Virginia to address the legalization of marijuana as we are just weeks away from the law going live. Recently updated the section in its student code of conduct dealing with drugs and alcohol and made it clear that students can’t possess or use marijuana on campus.
Yet, this comes as no surprise as it is similar to what other colleges have done in states that have legalized marijuana even while it remains illegal under federal law. It's believed that Colleges are playing it safe with their policies because they don’t want to risk losing federal funding if they violate a law called the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act that bans drugs on college campuses and public schools.
Stay tuned as we'll do our job at Lucky Chuckie to keep you informed on marijuana law and politics as the world changes.
