Proposal to protect workers from getting fired for off-the-job marijuana use advances with Illinois lawmakers

March 14, 2022
AggregatedNews
Illinois
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A proposal to prohibit firing workers for trace amounts of marijuana in their systems moved closer to passage when the Illinois House of Representatives approved the measure earlier this month — but employers remain very leery about it.

The chief sponsor, state Rep. Bob Morgan, a Democrat from Deerfield and an attorney who does cannabis consulting, said the change would let people, especially medical cannabis users, use a legal product on their own time “and not fear losing their job.”

But employers fear the change will only lead to more fights in court over who qualifies and how the law is applied.

The House voted 61-41 to pass the bill, largely along partisan lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.

The measure underwent two amendments that helped get the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association and Illinois Manufacturers’ Association to drop opposition and go neutral. The bill now is being considered in the Senate.

In general, the proposal would prohibit employers from firing or refusing to hire someone based on a positive test for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main ingredient in marijuana that gets users high — unless the worker shows signs of impairment or tests higher than the threshold for driving under the influence, which is 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood, or 10 nanograms per milliliter of other bodily fluid such as saliva or urine. [Read more at Chicago Tribune]