DUIs are common legal judgements in Oklahoma but can cause people to lose jobs and face other consequences. The push across the country to legalize marijuana has led to a corresponding rise in workplaces that treat the substance much like alcohol, so the use of drugs can have serious consequences.
Marijuana testing and workplace rules
Despite the fact that state governments have loosened their rules around marijuana, many employers still have a strong viewpoint on it. Some workers report that they get tested for marijuana use, even if they do not use it at work, and they face firings or other consequences for testing positive for a legal substance. These are workplace policies, not laws, so employers can set their own rules about how to address marijuana.
Some states are working on laws to protect workers and prevent them from getting fired just for testing positive for marijuana, but this is not common; for the most part, workers are on their own when their job wants to treat a marijuana test like a DUI or a similar violation. It’s a changing legal and political environment, so workers need to keep track of their workplace policies as well as state and local laws so that they can protect themselves from any negative repercussions of consuming marijuana.
Many workers assume that once marijuana becomes legal to consume in their state, they don’t need to worry about consequences for using it. However, with workplaces starting to treat any drug use like they would treat a DUI even if the drug use is legal, workers have to be prepared to adapt to the circumstances of their employer’s rules.