This is what needs to change. Companies have no business telling employees what prescriptions they can take & which ones they can't. As long as they aren't taking anything that impairs while they are on the job it's none of their business.
Not likely to change anytime soon.
Here is an article about Oregon when they legalized marijuana:
New pot law will not change drug testing
http://www.bendbulletin.com/business/3052750-151/new-pot-law-will-not-change-drug-testing#
The courts in Oregon hold that even Oregonians who claim medical marijuana provides relief from a disability can expect no protection from the state as long as the federal government lists marijuana as illegal. If the law doesn’t protect medicinal marijuana users, recreational users haven’t a prayer, lawyers said.
Many employers have workplace drug policies in place for liability reasons, others because their work is somehow governed by federal law or a federal contract.
Pilots, for example, and truck drivers are governed by federal regulations that mandate a zero tolerance for marijuana use. So are companies that receive federal grants. For those employers, Gamblin said, the message is simple.
“I think, number one, communicating to employees that if you’re a federally regulated employer, nothing is going to change for you,” she said.
Outside of that, the degree to which employers use drug testing varies from one to another and the kind of work they do. At Robberson, employees typically operate heavy machinery and shuttle customers back and forth in vehicles, Weber said. The company drug and alcohol policy extends to employees’ off-duty conduct if they are wearing work apparel with a Robberson logo, she said. The company uses pre-employment drug screening and tests employees in the event of an accident on the job, she said.
Much the same goes at R&H Construction Co., and company Vice President for Central Oregon Gary North said he doesn’t expect that policy to change. Neither does he anticipate a sudden blossoming in the number of workers impaired by marijuana.
“We pay pretty close attention, and the work we do requires full use of motor skills,” North said, “and we can tell pretty quickly when somebody is not operating to their capacity. Nobody wants to get hurt, and most of the work we do is in pairs or threes, so we have a built-in mechanism. People that wouldn’t be under the influence would be paying attention to anybody who might be.”
Recreational marijuana smokers will have no defense if they come up positive on a workplace urinalysis, Gamblin said. Other lawyers agreed. Oregon allows employers to terminate workers, other than union or other protected workers, at will on nearly any reasonable grounds, said Michael Rose, a Portland attorney with experience in civil rights and employment law. That means employers can dismiss employees for using marijuana, even on their own time, Carson said.
“The current court opinion is that you don’t have to accommodate the use of marijuana, including medical marijuana,” Tank said. “Employers can continue to enforce their zero tolerance policies in regard to drugs and drug testing.”
