Off-the-Job Marijauna Use Will No Longer Get You Fired in California, Thanks to New State Law

The old “marijuana pee test” will soon be effectively a thing of the past in California, as Gavin Newsom just signed a law saying cannabis users cannot be fired from their jobs over enjoying their marijuana off-the-clock.

The “pee in a cup” test has cost untold thousands of marijuana-using Californians their jobs over the years. But as the legal cannabis era continues to hit new milestones, high-fives are in effect for regular marijuana users. The Chronicle reports that California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that bars employers from firing employees who fire up cannabis off-the-job, one of a few new cannabis laws Newsom signed Sunday.

But don’t blaze up too quickly, marijuana rights activists — the new law does not take effect until January 1, 2024, more than 15 months from now. And you can still be fired for being high at the workplace, just not for getting high at home.

“These measures build on the important strides our state has made toward this goal, but much work remains to build an equitable, safe and sustainable legal cannabis industry,” Newsom said in a press release.

That’s just normal Gavin autoplay-speak for any cannabis law he signs. What’s significant about this bill is that it switches marijuana testing (which still exists) from urine- and hair-test methods, which capture weeks-old cannabis still in your system, to more updated methods that only capture cannabis use from the previous hour or two.

“No employee deserves to feel stigmatized and unsafe at work because of an outdated testing method,” United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council director of strategic communication Jim Araby said in a statement. “There are much more accurate, modern-day cannabis testing methods, like oral swabs, that are able to detect recent use and increase workplace safety.”

The bill does have exceptions, and the new freedom from off-site cannabis use testing does not apply to the building and construction industries, some education jobs, and workers on federal contracts.

Image: @crystalweed via Unsplash

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