California senators are advancing a bill with provisions that would ratify an agreement to end random marijuana drug tests amongst correctional officers working in California’s prisons.
In the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which would be ratified in the measure that cleared the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee with a 17-0 unanimous vote on Monday night, the majority of correctional officers will no longer be tested randomly for cannabis, or punished over their off-duty usage.
The bill states: “The parties agree that California law protects Californian employees against discrimination based off duty, off site cannabis use”, according to a bill’s analysis. The parties agreed to allow cannabis use in correctional institutions, units, office, or anywhere else. [Bargaining Unit] 6 employees work and interact with supervised/incarcerated individuals will be maintained as a drug-free workplace, consistent with the California Penal Code.”
Balancing the rights of an employer to provide a safe workplace. [Bargaining Unit] 6 employee’s statutory right to choose to use cannabis off-duty, the parties agree to remove the testing requirement for marijuana/cannabinoids (THC) from the random testing panel,” it says.
The bill would authorize a MOU which stipulates, however, that employees who are currently required to test for marijuana under the current “covered drivers” with commercial licenses will still be subjected to THC testing.
California’s employment policies continue to evolve since it legalized.
California Assembly rejected the Senate’s bill in 2024 that would have rolled back the employment protections currently available to law enforcement employees who are legally using marijuana off-duty. This prevented the legislation from moving forward to the next phase of the process.
This was in response to an event that occurred in 2023, when California officials changed their employment policies to eliminate questions regarding prior marijuana usage by job candidates in compliance with a law signed in the same year by Governor Brown.
In late 2023, legislation was passed that prohibited employers from questioning job candidates about their cannabis usage, as well as prohibiting them from punishing employees for lawful marijuana use outside the workplace.
Gavin Newsom (D) signed a complementary bill in 2022. It states that it is illegal for employers to discriminate against a person when hiring, terminating or imposing any term or condition of employment. Gavin Newsom (D) signed in 2022 says it is unlawful for employers “to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing a person, if the discrimination is based upon” off-duty marijuana use or drug tests that reveal cannabinoid metabolites.
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Outside of California,, a federal judge recently struck down a voter-approved Oregon law that required licensed marijuana businesses enter into labor peace agreements with workers and mandated that employers remain neutral in discussions around unionization.
Measure 119 passed with about 57 percent of the vote last November. A regional chapter of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)—UFCW Local 555—had submitted more than 160,000 signatures to qualify the measure for ballot placement last year.
Maryland’s Senate passed in March a bill that protects firefighters from punishment for medical marijuana use while on duty. The House must now act on the bill.
Delaware State Officials Announce that Recreational Marijuana sales will begin next month.
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