Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I I N O. I X H E A LT H Y B U S I N E S S 14 M aine employers are counting on the Legislature to untangle the hot-button issue of how to deal with workplace drug use and impairment, a concern that has gotten a lot hotter since recreational marijuana use became legal in Maine Jan. . And the solution may be a totally di erent approach to workplace impairment, given drug testing regula- tions considered by many employers too restrictive and now nearly impossible with legalization; federal stan- dards that con• ict with state ones; and the too-general nature of the recreational marijuana referendum passed in November regarding its relation to employment. "Everybody's nervous," says Matt Marks, chief executive o cer of Associated General Contractors of Maine. "It's not like anything we've dealt with before." State Rep. Teresa Pierce, a co-chair of the Marijuana Implementation Committee, says: " e concern is keeping people safe, [including] users, coworkers, the workplace, the state's highways." e Falmouth Democrat says that workplace safety is just one issue her committee is dealing with. e implementation committee, as well as other legislative committees, are hustling to set a wide variety of guide- lines related to the law after an emergency measure to delay many of its provisions until next year was passed in January. While that delay doesn't directly relate to employment law, it gives employers some breathing room as far as general marijuana use goes. A more speci c employer-based bill, LD , is still in its initial stages. e bill, sponsored by Rep. Andre Cushing, R-Penobscot, takes previous unsuccessful measures designed to lift some drug-testing restrictions and adds more language addressing how to recognize impairment in the workplace, among other changes. Employers are taking a wait-and-see approach, and while they wait for speci cs from the Legislature, many don't want to discuss the issue of drugs in the work- place or how they're dealing with it. "We don't have anything to comment on this topic," says Olga Karagiannis, manager of corporate com- munications for Sappi North America, which employs about , in Maine at mills in Skowhegan and Westbrook. A spokesman for Bath Iron Works also declined to comment, while Maine Medical Center, Hannaford Brothers, FairPoint and Cianbro didn't respond to requests for comment. A complicated subject Drug testing policy in Maine has long been a di cult topic. Restrictions mean that of , employers in the state, only have state-approved drug-testing policies, according to Julie Rabinowitz, director of policy, operations and communication at the Maine Department of Labor. Most of those programs are for job applicants. About employers do random test- ing, which is restricted to businesses with employees or more, and many of those are required to under fed- eral guidelines, with only coming under state law. Since marijuana can stay in the blood stream for more than a month, depending on use and the user's metabolism, a positive test does not mean the person is impaired. Rabinowitz says that more than of those testing positive for drug use in Maine tested positive for marijuana use in . In many cases, a positive test can't be grounds for refusing employment, the law passed in November states. But the law also states that legalization doesn't a ect the ability of employers to enact and enforce workplace policies restricting marijuana use, or to discipline employers who are under the in• u- ence in the workplace. Rabinowitz told the implementation committee in February that employers now may be in "legal limbo" if they continue applicant tests, and that some employers may be opened up to discrimination charges. While legislators and others are contacting other states that have legalized recreational marijuana for F I L E P H O T O / A M B E R WAT E R M A N 'Everybody's nervous' Companies navigate pitfalls of workplace marijuana rules • • • THERE IS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE A DIFFERENCE THERE IS THERE IS Because Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Sheridan Sheridan Construction Construction www.sheridancorp.com www.sheridancorp.com Fairfield Fairfield Portland 207-453-9311 207-453-9311 207-774-6138 Northern Maine Medical Center Emergency Department, Fort Kent Matt Marks, CEO of Associated General Contractors of Maine, says many employers are approaching the new marijuana laws cautiously.

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