Pittsburgh Bans Workplace Discrimination Against Medical Marijuana Patients As Pennsylvania Lawmakers Step Up Broader Legalization Push

As Pennsylvania lawmakers revive a push to legalize marijuana in the state, local legislators in Pittsburgh have unanimously approved an ordinance banning many employers in the city from discriminating against registered medical cannabis patients.

The Pittsburgh City Council passed the measure on Tuesday, preventing employers from testing workers who are medical cannabis patients for THC as a condition of employment and broadly incorporating patients into the city’s existing anti-discrimination code for workers—with some notable exceptions.

Employers in the city can no longer “discriminate in hiring or employment against any employee or prospective employee because of the individual’s lawful status as a medical marijuana patient, including by requiring pre-employment testing for marijuana and such testing during the course of employment as a condition of the employee’s employment,” the text of the ordinance says.

There are exemptions to the rule, however. Workers with the state or federal transportation department and those who must carry firearms as part of their job can still be tested and penalized if they test positive, for example.

Controversially, the measure also carves out an exemption to the reform for workers who are part of collective bargaining agreements with their employer—a change that was opposed by the ordinances sponsor, Councilmember Barb Warwick (D).

Nothing about the law will prevent employers from prohibiting the use of medical cannabis while workers are on the clock. And the legislation makes clear that medical cannabis patients can still be subject to THC testing if there’s reasonable suspicion for on-site impairment.

Employees also could not have more than 10 nanograms of active THC in their blood if they are operating a vehicle on the job or performing duties “at heights or in confined spaces.”

The measure also stipulates that employers can still penalize an employee if they’re “under the influence of medical marijuana in the workplace or is working while under the influence of medical marijuana, where the employee’s conduct falls below the standard of care normally accepted for that position.”

Workers would be able to submit complaints about any alleged violation of the anti-discrimination to the city’s Commission on Human Relations.

“Gainful employment should be accessible to everyone regardless of the type of medical treatment they receive,” Commission Executive Director Rachel Shepherd said in a statement to TribLive. “Taking a prescribed medication for a qualifying disability should not diminish trust in a person’s ability to be a reliable and productive employee, nor should it affect their ability to be considered in the hiring process.”

The local vote comes about a week after bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers officially filed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the commonwealth. There’s been a stepped-up push for reform in the legislature as neighboring states such as Ohio move forward to open legal cannabis markets.

In July, the governor of Pennsylvania said the administration and lawmakers would “come back and continue to fight” for marijuana legalization and other policy priorities that were omitted from budget legislation he signed into law that month.

When the Pennsylvania legislature approved the budget bill that Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) enacted, lawmakers also accidentally left medical marijuana dispensaries out of a section providing tax relief for the cannabis industry. And it hasn’t been clear whether the omission could be fixed without future legislative action.

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At a press briefing in July, the chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus seemed to temper expectations about the potential timeline of passing legalization legislation, pointing out that the rest of the session will likely be too politically charged heading into the November election to get the job done this year.

Other lawmakers have emphasized the urgency of legalizing as soon as possible given regional dynamics, while signaling that legislators are close to aligning House and Senate proposals.

Meanwhile, a report commissioned by activists projected that Pennsylvania would see up to $2.8 billion in adult-use marijuana sales in the first year of implementing legalization, generate as much as $720 million in tax revenue and create upwards of 45,000 jobs.

Sens. Sharif Street (D) and Dan Laughlin (R) also participated in an X Spaces event in June where they said the votes are there to pass a marijuana legalization bill as soon as this year, though they stressed that the governor needs to work across the aisle to get the job done—and argued that it would be helpful if the federal government implemented its proposed cannabis rescheduling rule sooner rather than later.

Street was also among advocates and lawmakers who participated in a cannabis rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in June, where there was a significant emphasis on the need to incorporate social equity provisions as they move to advance legalization.

Laughlin, for his part, also said an event in May that the state is “getting close” to legalizing marijuana, but the job will only get done if House and Senate leaders sit down with the governor and “work it out.”

Warren County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Robert Greene, a registered medical cannabis patient in the state, filed a lawsuit in federal court in January seeking to overturn a ban preventing medical marijuana patients from buying and possessing firearms.

Two Pennsylvania House panels held a joint hearing to discuss marijuana legalization in April, with multiple lawmakers asking the state’s top liquor regulator about the prospect of having that agency run cannabis shops.

Also in April, members of the House Health Committee had a conversation centered on social justice and equity considerations for reform.

At a prior meeting in March, members focused on criminal justice implications of prohibition and the potential benefits of reform.

At another hearing in February, members looked at the industry perspective, with multiple stakeholders from cannabis growing, dispensing and testing businesses, as well as clinical registrants, testifying.

At the subcommittee’s previous cannabis meeting in December, members heard testimony and asked questions about various elements of marijuana oversight, including promoting social equity and business opportunities, laboratory testing and public versus private operation of a state-legal cannabis industry.

And during the panel’s first meeting late last year, Frankel said that state-run stores are “certainly an option” he’s considering for Pennsylvania, similar to what New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) recommended for that state last year, though a state commission later shied away from that plan.

Last year, Shapiro signed a bill to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to sell their cannabis products directly to patients.

Separately, Pennsylvania’s prior governor separately signed a bill into law in July 2022 that included provisions to protect banks and insurers in the state that work with licensed medical marijuana businesses.

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