A legislative committee in Hawaii has voted unanimously to advance legislation to prohibit the workplace discrimination of medical marijuana patients.
The House Labor and Public Employment Committee voted 6 to 0 today to approve House Bill 325, filed on January 16 by eight lawmakers.
The proposed law would explicitly protect registered medical marijuana patients from workplace discrimination while upholding safety standards for certain professions. Employers would be barred from taking adverse actions, such as termination or refusal to hire, based solely on an individual’s status as a registered medical marijuana patient or a positive test for marijuana metabolites, as long as the individual is not impaired during work hours.
House Bill 325 includes exemptions for safety-sensitive roles, including law enforcement, emergency medical services, and positions involving vulnerable populations. Employers in these fields could continue enforcing drug-free policies and conducting fit-for-duty assessments to determine impairment.
Hawaii legalized medical marijuana in 2000, with its first licensed dispensaries opening in 2015.
