SPRINGDALE -- Much remains unclear about how Arkansas' medical marijuana law will affect employers and the workplace, thanks to a slew of legal questions and loose ends, a Little Rock lawyer told Springdale Chamber of Commerce members Thursday.
The voter-approved constitutional amendment allowing patients with cancer, extreme pain and other medical conditions to use the drug is a legal "disaster waiting to happen" without changes and clarifications from the state government, J. Bruce Cross told an audience of about 40 people. Cross is a director in the Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus firm specializing in labor and employment law.
"It puts you all in an extremely difficult position," he said. "This could lead to a ton a litigation."
More than half of the states allow some form of marijuana use, though the plant still falls under the same federal classification as heroin and LSD. About 53 percent of Arkansas voters chose to join the legalization ranks in November and allow growers and dispensaries that meet several conditions to sell the substance to qualified customers.
Some effects of the amendment are relatively clear, Cross said. For example, positive drug-test results for marijuana in Colorado and Washington, which allow both recreational and medical marijuana use, increased three or four times as quickly as in the nation as a whole in recent years. Colorado's average user of medical marijuana last year was in his 40s and took it for pain or muscle spasms, he said.
"You must anticipate and expect that the same thing's going to happen here," he said.
The amendment also clearly says people can't be fired or otherwise discriminated against because of their status as a qualified user of medical marijuana, Cross said. But businesses don't have to let customers or employees ingest the substance on their property or at their expense.
That's where some legal questions come in, however. An employer doesn't have to tolerate an employee working under the influence of medical marijuana, but "under the influence" isn't clearly defined in the amendment, Cross said. It doesn't define employer, either; other Arkansas laws make clear that they apply only to companies of a certain size.
Other open-ended questions include caps on damages, time limits or possible defenses for business owners if an employee sues under the amendment. No one has decided whether workers' compensation should cover medical marijuana use, either.
"It's going to take legislative action in order to address some of this stuff," Cross told the group, many of whom worked in their companies' human resources departments.
There's also the conflict with federal law. The Department of Justice has said it won't stop states from allowing the drug if they manage access to it, but President Donald Trump's administration and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions could bring a different perspective. Cross advised any company doing business with the federal government to ban marijuana use regardless of the state amendment.
Work to clear up such questions began this year. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission and legislative committees are putting together rules for growers and cultivation facilities, with officials debating the best ways to follow the spirit of the amendment while addressing safety concerns. They have 180 days from the amendment's passage to put rules in place.
Bobby Randles, human resources director at Northwest Arkansas' low-cost Community Clinic, said Cross' presentation is a good primer to refer to as marijuana regulations take shape in the Legislature. The information also is useful for when the clinic works to prevent drug abuse by children and share information about the law with the community, said Layza Lopez-Love, the clinic's outreach team leader.
"There's so many unknowns," Randles said. "I need to see how all the pieces come together."
Cross told the group he'd happily do a similar presentation after the legislative session ends.
Business on 02/10/2017