A Washington, D.C. law went into effect on Thursday that bans most private workplaces from firing or otherwise punishing employees for marijuana use during non-work hours.
This comes exactly one year after Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) signed the legislation, which then prompted a 60-day congressional review period during which federal lawmakers opted not to block the measure.
The reform is designed to expand on a previous measure lawmakers approved to protect local government employees against workplace discrimination due to their use of medical cannabis by covering workers in private businesses.
The law will “prohibit employers from firing, failing to hire, or taking other personnel actions against an individual for use of cannabis, participating in the medical cannabis program, or failure to pass an employer-required or requested cannabis drug test, unless the position is designated safety sensitive or for other enumerated reasons,” the text says.
Police, safety-sensitive construction workers and people with jobs that require a commercial driver’s license or work with childcare and patients and positions “with the potential to significantly impact the health or safety of employees or members of the public” could still be fired or punished for cannabis use, however.
There are also exceptions for workers contracted by
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