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Efficient July 1, 2021, Connecticut turned certainly one of a rising
variety of states to legalize the leisure use of
marijuana. Beneath this new law, it’s now authorized in Connecticut for
people age 21 or older to own, use, or in any other case eat
marijuana or marijuana merchandise, topic to sure restrictions
and limitations. In consequence, many unbiased faculties are in
the method of figuring out if and the way this new regulation will affect
present insurance policies and practices, significantly as associated to school
and workers who might drive college students as a part of their job
duties. Under is a quick abstract of some key
facets of the brand new regulation and responses to incessantly requested questions
from unbiased faculties concerning the implications of the brand new
marijuana regulation in Connecticut.
Key Features of the Regulation
Although the regulation incorporates provisions to control the sale of
marijuana, of main curiosity to colleges are the provisions
associated to the possession and use of leisure marijuana by
workers. Many of those office provisions don’t go into
impact till July 2022. Nevertheless, it can be crucial for
unbiased faculties to acknowledge that the regulation exempts sure
employers, together with unbiased faculties, from many of those
office necessities, together with the requirement to undertake
office insurance policies to handle hashish possession or use.
This exemption gives higher flexibility for unbiased faculties
to develop employment insurance policies regulating the possession and use of
leisure marijuana, significantly on their faculty campuses.
Due to this fact, whereas unbiased faculties could also be exempt from the
authorized requirement to undertake office insurance policies on this space, it’s
nonetheless advisable for faculties to draft or revise worker insurance policies to
guarantee they adequately replicate the present regulation and clearly
talk the varsity’s expectations and insurance policies concerning
each leisure and medicinal marijuana within the office.
Boarding faculties with residential college, and any faculties that
at the moment use college/workers to drive college students, will probably be significantly
fascinated by guaranteeing they’re speaking clearly to their
workers in regards to the guidelines for worker use and possession of
leisure marijuana. It will likely be necessary for all
unbiased faculties to place all college and workers on discover
concerning the varsity’s expectations and necessities nicely in
advance of the brand new faculty yr.
FAQs
Is leisure hashish use authorized for everybody, with out
restrict?
No. The regulation usually permits solely adults age
twenty-one (21) or older to own or use
hashish recreationally, as much as specified limits. This
permissive use of leisure marijuana dietary supplements present regulation
that already permits for the palliative use of marijuana by
certified sufferers. This new regulation establishes penalties for adults
who possess greater than the authorized limits, together with fines of $100 for
the primary offense and $250 for a subsequent offense. For
possession of bigger quantities, a person can face a positive of $500
for the primary offense and, for subsequent offenses, a Class C
misdemeanor, punishable by as much as three months in
jail.1
This new regulation additionally establishes numerous penalties for possession
of hashish by minors, relying on components such because the
particular person’s age, whether or not it’s the minor’s first or
subsequent offense, and the quantity of hashish the minor
possesses.
Can people smoke, possess or use hashish in class
buildings and on faculty grounds?
Efficient October 1, 2021, the regulation expands the prevailing ban on
smoking on faculty grounds by expressly prohibiting smoking (or
vaping) marijuana on faculty grounds or in “any space” of
faculty buildings or amenities below the varsity’s
management. Notably, nevertheless, the regulation itself doesn’t go to date
as to ban the possession of marijuana or
its leisure use on faculty grounds.
On condition that present regulation particularly prohibits even certified
sufferers from ingesting marijuana for medicinal causes on faculty
grounds, faculties will need to develop clear insurance policies that
articulate their expectations for college, workers and others
concerning the possession of marijuana on campus usually, as nicely
because the leisure use of marijuana (apart from smoking) on faculty
grounds.
As well as, whereas this new regulation doesn’t particularly prohibit
the possession, use, or consumption (apart from smoking) of
leisure hashish in class buildings or on faculty grounds,
faculties must be conscious that any entities receiving Federal
grants should present a drug-free office, and marijuana (hashish)
stays a managed substance below Federal regulation.
Can the varsity prohibit hashish use by workers at work?
Sure. As famous above, the regulation prohibits anybody, together with faculty
workers, from smoking, utilizing digital nicotine or hashish
supply programs, or vapor merchandise in amenities below the
faculty’s management, in a faculty constructing, or on faculty
grounds.
Like several employer, faculties can prohibit workers from being
below the affect of marijuana whereas working (together with when
working remotely) or when fairly anticipated to be performing job
duties, together with when college and workers are on name or
in any other case on responsibility, resembling in a single day responsibility in a dorm.
As exempted employers, unbiased faculties even have extensive
latitude to implement guidelines that prohibit the possession, use and
consumption of marijuana, past what’s prohibited by the
regulation. For instance, a faculty might elect to ban possession
and use of marijuana on faculty grounds, topic solely to provisions
regarding medicinal use. As an exempted employer,
faculties’ insurance policies may additionally put workers on discover that they
could also be disciplined even for off-duty use of marijuana and faculties
might refuse to rent new workers based mostly on prior use of
marijuana. Lastly, given the flexibleness afforded faculty
employers, faculties also can penalize an worker or refuse to rent
a potential worker who checks constructive for THC, together with an
worker who checks constructive on account of the random drug testing
required for anybody driving a pupil exercise automobile.
Regardless of this latitude, faculties should, nevertheless, proceed to permit
qualifying sufferers to possess palliative
marijuana, topic to statutory limits, whereas at work.
Notably, such qualifying sufferers are nonetheless prohibited
from ingesting marijuana within the office, on
faculty grounds or in a dormitory, on a faculty bus or another
transferring automobile, and within the presence of any individual below the age of
eighteen (18). Due to this fact, when adopting insurance policies on this
subject, faculties ought to rigorously take into account their positions concerning
leisure and palliative use of marijuana, in order to not run
afoul of the state regulation prohibiting employers from penalizing an
worker solely on the premise of the person’s standing as a
qualifying affected person.
Can the varsity prohibit marijuana use by workers outdoors of
work?
Faculties have discretion to take adversarial employment motion
towards workers for utilizing leisure marijuana, even when they do
so outdoors of labor, off of college grounds, and throughout the bounds of
the regulation, whether or not or not they’ve a written coverage for marijuana
use. To make sure, as exempted employers, unbiased faculties
can refuse to rent or take disciplinary motion based mostly on an
worker’s possession, use or consumption of leisure
hashish inside or outdoors the office, together with earlier than
employment, with or with out a coverage in place.
However their standing as exempted employers, nevertheless,
faculties are nicely suggested to undertake a written coverage explaining their
expectations and necessities for workers, and be sure that
candidates and workers are given correct discover of such
coverage. When growing such insurance policies, faculties are reminded
that they can not refuse to rent, penalize, or discharge an worker
based mostly on a person’s standing as a qualifying.
Can unbiased faculties nonetheless require drug testing of
workers?
Impartial faculties can and, in some circumstances, should require
workers to undergo drug testing, simply as they did previous to
passage of this regulation.
First, a faculty might require an worker to undergo a
urinalysis drug check if it has affordable suspicion that an
worker is below the affect of medication or alcohol, which
adversely impacts or might adversely have an effect on the worker’s job
efficiency.
As well as, faculties might, and typically should require workers
to undergo pre-employment and random urinalysis drug checks in
sure circumstances. For instance, an unbiased faculty
should, after offering written notification on the time of
utility, require workers who will drive faculty buses or
pupil transportation automobiles to undergo (1) pre-employment
urinalysis drug checks and (2) subsequent random urinalysis drug
checks, in accordance with state and federal regulation. Importantly,
federal regulation continues to categorise marijuana as a managed
substance.
If a potential or present worker receives a constructive
urinalysis drug check outcome and a confirmatory
constructive check outcome utilizing a second urinalysis drug check that meets
statutory necessities, an employer can’t make use of that
particular person as a driver for 2 years. Faculties are
suggested that these testing necessities, and potential penalties,
live on regardless of the legalization of leisure
marijuana. Due to this fact, it can be crucial for faculties to
talk this data to present and potential workers
in order that anybody who will probably be required to drive college students as a part of
their job understands that even leisure use of marijuana might
have adversarial employment actions.
What must be included in a faculty’s coverage concerning
marijuana?
As famous above, faculties are suggested to draft or replace their
employment insurance policies to account for the legalization of leisure
marijuana, together with how they are going to handle (1) use of leisure
marijuana within the bodily office, together with in college
residences; (2) use of leisure marijuana within the distant
office; (3) use of leisure marijuana outdoors of the
office; and (4) drug testing of workers. As famous above,
the varsity’s coverage also needs to take into account and handle how these
guidelines will do
Footnote
1. These penalties apply when a person
possesses not less than 5 ounces of hashish plant materials and/or an
equal quantity of hashish merchandise or eight ounces of hashish
and/or the equal quantity of hashish merchandise in a locked
container at house or in a locked glove field or trunk of a motor
automobile.
The content material of this text is meant to offer a normal
information to the subject material. Specialist recommendation must be sought
about your particular circumstances.
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