Another New Mexico House committee has passed a bill that would further protect medical marijuana patients in the state from being penalized at work for off-duty use of cannabis. And a Senate companion version of the legislation also moved through a panel in that chamber.
On Friday, the House Judiciary Committee approved the proposal from House Majority Floor Leader Reena Szczepanski (D) in a 7-3 vote. This comes almost a month after an earlier committee advanced the proposal.
Meanwhile, the Senate companion bill—sponsored by Sens. Linda López (D) and Shannon Pinto (D)—separately passed the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee by a tally of 6-3.
Under the legislation, employees could not be considered “impaired” by cannabis if a test is based solely on the presence of THC metabolites.
The measures would further prohibit random drug testing for marijuana, though patients could be screened if there’s reasonable suspicion that cannabis was used on the clock resulting in “significant damage to property.”
At the prior House committee meeting, members adopted a minor amendment that replaces a line in the bill that had said a “drug test for cannabis shall be reviewed by a medical review officer who shall determine if the reason for a positive test has a legitimate medical explanation.”
Under the new language, the bill now says that an employer “shall follow the cannabis impairment guidelines when testing for cannabis impairment.”
The legislation was further amended in the House Judiciary Committee to prevent the use of a positive cannabis test as evidence in civil cases “exposing the employer to liability arising out of the employee’s on-duty conduct.”
The measures also stipulate that the state Department of Health must “assist the workforce solutions department in developing cannabis impairment guidelines that are based on the most reliable research- or evidence-based cannabis impairment indicators, including the evaluation of physical symptoms and psychomotor and cognitive performance.”
“The workforce solutions department shall inform private employers of this section and provide information related to the most recent advances in testing protocols for determining cannabis impairment,” they say. “The department of finance and administration shall disseminate the cannabis impairment guidelines to state agencies and political subdivisions of the state.”
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