Employers Advised to Hold Off on Testing for Pot Use

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A Maine official says employers shouldn’t test for marijuana because state law doesn’t allow workers to be fired for using it.

A committee tasked with establishing new regulations in the wake of the legalization of recreational marijuana heard testimony Monday from a labor department official who said the state’s current rules are an outlier.

The Portland Press Herald reports that Julie Rabinowitz said employers currently can’t fire an employee or reject an applicant for failing a drug test. She said employers need more leeway to maintain drug-free workplaces.

The committee said the issue would be best handled by the Legislature’s labor committee.

Voters in November approved legalizing the recreational use and sale of marijuana products by adults over 21, but commercial sales were put on hold as new regulations are considered.

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