CT employers look to other states for dealing with cannabis legalization and workplace issues

An authorized marijuana dispensary in Great Barrington, Mass., about 10 miles north of the Litchfield County border in Connecticut.

With marijuana sales authorized to begin in Connecticut within 18 months, the state is giving employers leeway on how to handle employees who show up to work under the influence of the drug.

At a Tuesday press conference in Hartford, Lamont expressed confidence that the 295-page Connecticut bill includes sufficient safeguards to protect against impairment and abuse of the drug.

A spokesperson in the Connecticut Department of Labor did not say immediately Thursday what role the agency would play if any in issuing workplace regulations or advisories.

People cannot possess more than five ounces of marijuana locked away in their home or vehicle, and can otherwise carry no more than an ounce-and-a-half.

The state aims to begin approving retail licenses to sell cannabis by the end of 2022, with towns to get 3 percent of sales via a new municipal tax.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Nevada entered this year as the only state to have a law specifically protecting workers from employer discrimination related to their recreational use of marijuana.

With the exemption of select employers that include schools, health clinics, emergency response, manufacturers and utilities, employers generally cannot interfere with a worker’s decision to use marijuana while off the job.

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