New Utah marijuana bill clarifies that private employers don’t need to allow its use

SALT LAKE CITY — Proposed changes to Utah’s medical marijuana law would clarify that private employers are not required to accommodate the use of cannabis products, nor are they barred from having policies restricting it.

And some medical marijuana advocates — citing the importance of Utah allowing businesses to run the way they choose — say they’re OK with it, while others question why the plant will be treated differently than any prescribed medication.

“Personally, certainly, I would be concerned if any company is taking any adverse action against a patient using their medicine, but our goal is to see that changed just through education and awareness rather than forcing them to change through the law,” said Connor Boyack, president of Libertas Institute, which worked on medical marijuana ballot initiative Proposition 2 and the compromise bill that replaced it.

“When we did the negotiations over Prop. 2, and even in Prop. 2 itself, we never sought to compel private businesses to allow the use of cannabis by their employees. As a free-market organization ourselves, we wouldn’t want the government to coerce companies in that way, and so we thought it proper to keep the policy that way,” Boyack said.

SB121 sponsor Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, also said the original bill didn’t require private employers to accommodate medical marijuana use, but that wasn’t clear enough in the law’s language. [Read More @ Deseret]