Although medical marijuana is legal in Ohio, if you work in a safety sensitive position and use medical marijuana you are at risk of losing your job. Nothing in the law requires an employer to accommodate an employee’s use of medical marijuana.
The law does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire, discharging or taking an adverse employment action because of a person’s use of medical marijuana. An employee who suffers a work related injury and whose injury was the result of being under the influence of marijuana is not eligible for worker’s compensation, even if the employee has a prescriptionfor marijuana from a doctor.
In addition, Federal Law does not allow for medical marijuana. Specifically, the Department of Transportation guidelines do not make exceptions for medical marijuana.
What kind of risks does a user of medical marijuana pose if they are a school bus driver, an over-the-road truck driver, a heavy equipment operator, a crane operator, a machine operator or a forklift driver?
Consider these side effects of marijuana:
Depression, increased heartbeat, hallucinations, altered sense of time, changed sensory perception, reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration, attention and coordination, blood shot eyes, and lowered immune response.
Marijuana can also affect job safety. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, employees who tested positive for marijuana had 55 percent more industrial accidents and 85 percent more injuries than employees who tested negative.
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