Q&A with Vic Albert: SQ 788 threatens to alter employers’ drug-free workplaces

Q&A with Vic Albert: SQ 788 threatens to alter employers’ drug-free workplaces

NewsOK.com| Paula Burkes | January 24, 2018

Q&A with Vic Albert: SQ 788 threatens to alter employers’ drug-free workplaces

Q: State Question 788, entitled Medical Marijuana, is set for vote on the next primary election on June 26. Oklahoma could join the 29 states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal use for persons who qualify under the law. What's the current law in Oklahoma on the possession and use of marijuana, and workplace testing for marijuana use by employees?

A: The possession and medical use of marijuana is illegal in Oklahoma. In regard to workplace drug and alcohol testing, Oklahoma has one of the most pro-employer statutes of any state in the country. It's a conservative-based law that allows employers to enact a policy of workplace testing of applicants and employees for drug and alcohol use. Oklahoma employers may require employees to take a drug test following a workplace accident causing injury or property damage, at random, as part of a routine fitness-for-duty exam, and as a follow-up to a rehabilitation program. Employers also may test “for cause," if they have a reasonable belief that the employee is under the influence of drugs at work (based on, for example, seeing the employee with drugs, an unexplained pattern of absences or tardiness, or employee behavior that suggests impairment).

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Image credit: Ogletree Deakins