Following a summer vote by members on the Michigan Civil Service Commission who unanimously agreed to remove marijuana from the pre-employment drug testing protocols, the state policy will kick in October 1.
Employees who work in law enforcement, operate vehicles, provide health care, or work with prisoners would be among those who would still be tested for cannabis before being hired. The policy change would impact about two-thirds of the jobs within the state government.
“Whether or not we agree with (recreational marijuana) is kind of beyond the point in terms of pre-hire,” said Commissioner Nick Ciaramitaro earlier this summer. “Use of marijuana on the job is different than having used it months before you take the test.
“It doesn’t make sense to eliminate qualified people because they took a gummi two weeks ago.”
Among the reasons to amend the state’s drug testing policy was because the state had already approved recreational use of cannabis years before.
The four commissioners met on July 12 this year to discuss the amendment after the personnel director issued a call for public comment on updating pre-employment testing for pot. Here’s what to know about the upcoming policy.
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