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Medical Marijuana

By Stephanie Dutchess Trudeau

Here is the latest tip for employers: Do not be too quick to “just say no” to medical marijuana. The answer that “we follow federal law” is not so easy anymore. The “it's a federal crime” escape hatch employers invoked previously has been closed by more and more courts in states with medical marijuana laws. It is a welcome opportunity for employers that were not comfortable making employees choose between keeping their jobs or keeping a medical treatment.

The conflict between federal law outlawing marijuana and state laws legalizing medical marijuana led many employers to believe the safest policy was to prohibit employee use of medical marijuana. Some employers felt they had little choice but to say no. If they allowed it and an employee who used medical marijuana caused injury or harm, the employer's decision not to follow federal law would be questioned as unwise or, worse yet, deemed reason for liability. Some employers assumed that federal law trumped state law. But the landscape has changed.

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