Q:  My Company wants to institute a drug testing policy that would automatically disqualify an applicant for employment if they test positive for illegal drugs, including medically-prescribed marijuana. Is this legal?

A.  The law regarding the responsibility of employers to accommodate medical marijuana use continues to evolve as more states pass laws allowing for marijuana use for medical and recreational reasons. In Pennsylvania, for example, the law is silent as to whether an employer can rely upon a positive drug test as a reason to reject the applicant for employment. However, the statute lists specific areas in which employers may prohibit employees from working while under the influence of marijuana – operating or controlling government-controlled chemicals or high-voltage electricity, performing duties at heights or in confined spaces; and performing tasks that threaten the life of the employee or his/her coworkers.  By implication, outside these specified areas, employers may be required to accommodate marijuana use, so long as it does not occur at work.

In New York, the law goes even further, providing that certified patients shall not be subjected to “disciplinary action by a business” for exercising their rights to use medical marijuana. A patient with a prescription for medical marijuana in New York State is considered to have a “disability” under the New York State Human Rights Law.  This means that New York employers must provide reasonable accommodations to employees or prospective employees who are certified to use marijuana for medical reasons.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that employers may be held liable for disability discrimination under Massachusetts state law if they fire an individual for using medical marijuana. In that case, the employee was fired after her first day of work for failing a drug test, despite the fact that the employee had informed the company that her doctor has prescribed marijuana as a way to manage her Crohn’s disease.  The court held that using medical marijuana is as lawful as using any other prescription medicine, despite the fact that it is illegal under federal law.  Further, the court stated that it would be a reasonable accommodation for an employer to allow its employees to use medically-prescribed marijuana away from the employer’s place of business unless the employer can show undue hardship.

It is quite possible that the growing number of states that have enacted medical marijuana legislation will follow the lead of the New York legislature and the Massachusetts court in adding medical marijuana use – at least outside of the workplace – to the list of accommodations that are considered to be reasonable. That means that employers will not be able to rely on positive drug test results for marijuana for employees working in non-safety-related positions without engaging in the interactive process with the employee or applicant.  The employer will have to analyze whether the employee’s use of marijuana outside of working hours will prevent the employee from performing the essential functions of his or her job.  Moreover, the employer will want to monitor the employee to ensure that the accommodation does not impact the employee’s job performance.


Our Cannabis Practice provides advice on issues related to applicable state law. Cannabis remains an illegal controlled substance under federal law.