The use of medical marijuana continues to pose a dilemma foremployers, especially small businesses, even though marijuana islegal in 24 states for medicinal or recreationalpurposes. According to a new poll by EMPLOYERS, a small business Workers’ Compensation insurancespecialist, small businesses have mixed feelings about its presencein the workplace. One in five small business owners (19%) said theywould allow an employee who has a doctor’s prescription for medicalmarijuana to use it at work, while nearly two-thirds of smallbusiness owners (62%) said they would not. Another 17% of smallbusiness owners were not sure whether they would allow employees touse the drug while at work.

“We encourage all small businesses to maintain drug-freeworkplaces because employees who are under the influence of illicitsubstances, or misuse or abuse prescription drugs, can putthemselves, other employees or customers at risk of injury or otherharm,” said Dr. Dwight Robertson, medical director, EMPLOYERS. “Themost important step employers can take is to have a clearlydocumented workplace safety policy that specifically addresses druguse in the workplace.”

No written policies, no drug tests