Ohio Medical Marijuana: What Employers and Employees Need to Know

The new medical marijuana rules set to take effect in 2018 present interesting challenges for Ohio business owners and individual users. While medical marijuana use will soon be legal, it is important for individuals to understand that the law, as currently written, does not protect employees from employment matters related to its usage.  For example, employers will not have to accommodate employees that use medical marijuana, can still make employment decisions (hiring, firing, and discipline) based upon marijuana use, and can still drug test employees.

Another important consideration is that marijuana, even for medicinal purposes, is still illegal under federal law. As the law is implemented in Ohio, medical marijuana is certain to present a wide variety of legal issues in the courts. Both individual users and employers will need to remain up to date on the law which will certainly evolve once implemented.

This information is intended to provide broad, general information about the law and is not intended to be legal advice. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from a licensed attorney