Cannabis Insights — Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C. Firm News & Events

Terminated Employee Who Tested Positive for Marijuana After a Workplace Driving Accident Can Pursue His Wrongful Termination Claim

Published on: May 3, 2023 | by Kathleen M. Connelly

A recent decision from the New Jersey District Court illustrates the extraordinary job protections for recreational marijuana users under the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (“CREAMMA”).

THE LEGAL BACKDROP

The job protection provisions of CREAMMA prohibit employers from disciplining employees “solely due to the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in the employee’s body fluid.” Although CREAMMA expressly permits workplace reasonable suspicion, post-accident and random testing for marijuana, it also mandates a physical evaluation be conducted “by an individual with the necessary certification” to determine the employee’s current state of impairment before discipline can be imposed. The physical evaluation requirement was included because current tests can only determine recent marijuana use, not current impairment. However, the physical evaluation requirement was temporarily waived by regulation until such time that the NJ Regulatory Cannabis Commission (the “Cannabis Commission”) develops standards for a Workplace Impairment Recognition Expert (“WIRE”) certification. Thus, for the time being a physical evaluation is not a prerequisite for taking action against an employee who tests positive for cannabis.

New Jersey Adopts Initial Cannabis Regulations Addressing Licensing and the Application Process

Published on: August 23, 2021 | by Robert W. Anderson

At a meeting of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (the “CRC”) held on August 19, 2021, an initial set of regulations were adopted which will govern the recreational cannabis industry in New Jersey. These are not the full set of regulations that will be needed to govern the industry (e.g. the current regulations do not cover licensing requirements for wholesaler, distributor, or delivery licenses). However, the regulations do mark a major milestone in the path to a legal adult recreational cannabis industry in the State of New Jersey.

Among other things, the adoption of these regulations triggers a 180-day countdown to the day when adult recreational sales are to be permitted in New Jersey. That would be February 15, 2022, which now becomes the outside date for such sales. The date for businesses to first be permitted to apply for licenses in the cannabis industry, however, has not yet been determined. When the CRC decides that it is ready to accept license applications, a notice of that initial application date will be published. No applications will be permitted until at least 30 days after the publication date of that notice. The date for that publication is unknown at the present time. As CRC Chairperson Dianna Houenou stated at the August 19, 2021 meeting of the CRC, the commission will hold off on accepting license applications until it has the ability to “process applications effectively and efficiently”.

The new regulations provide that three types of cannabis businesses will be given priority in the review and approval of their license applications—effectively moving these applications to the “top of the pile” in the review process (jumping ahead of other, even earlier submitted, applications):

The New Jersey Cannabis Microbusiness License: An Entrepreneur’s Guide

Published on: March 29, 2021 | by Robert W. Anderson

On Feb. 22, 2021 Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act, which established the framework for a legal, adult-use cannabis industry in New Jersey. By some estimates, recreational cannabis may grow to be a billion-dollar industry in the state over the next few years. Many have worried that much of this growing economic pie may be grabbed by large, well-capitalized cannabis companies from out of state that have already established themselves in those other markets where recreational cannabis was legalized earlier than New Jersey.

Enter the microbusiness license.

Per New Jersey’s cannabis licensing laws, a microbusiness is a cannabis business with strong established connections with New Jersey that is subject to certain size and operational limitations. A significant number of licenses to operate in the cannabis industry will be earmarked solely for such microbusinesses. As such, microbusinesses will only need to compete against one another during the application process, rather than needing to compete directly with larger, more established businesses. This potentially gives entrepreneurial start-up companies seeking to delve into the cannabis industry a path forward without getting pushed aside by multi-state operators (MSOs) in the frenzy once New Jersey begins accepting applications.

Zero Tolerance Policy? Not So Fast. Proposed Cannabis bill offers Clarification and Possible Relief to Some Employers.

Published on: March 18, 2021 | by Elizabeth Engert Manzo

After much anticipation, New Jersey’s Governor Murphy signed the “New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act” into law on February 22, 2021. While this law made adult use recreational cannabis legal, the extensive law, together with a few “clean up bills,” did a whole lot more than legalization. In hundreds of pages, this law created the broad framework for the development and regulation of the entire cannabis industry including licensing, manufacture, distribution, taxation, enforcement, as well as criminal and social justice reforms for the possession and use of cannabis. It is therefore not surprising that some issues of particular importance to employers, such as drug testing and carve-outs for certain industries, are still hazy.

Importantly, while some provisions of the law became effective immediately, the provisions governing employment and those “activities associated with the personal use of cannabis,” are not operative until the newly appointed five member Cannabis Regulatory Commission adopts initial rules and regulations. These regulations, which will interpret and instruct how the law will be implemented, are required sometime within 180 days of the law’s adoption, or by mid-August 2021.

How does recreational marijuana impact Zero Tolerance Marijuana Policies?

NJ Passes the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act

Published on: February 22, 2021 | by Robert W. Anderson

On December 17, 2020, the New Jersey legislature passed the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (the “Act”), providing the framework for legal adult recreational cannabis use in New Jersey. The Act lays out the ground rules for licensing arrangements for the cultivation, packaging, distribution, advertising, and retail sale of recreational cannabis to persons 21 years old or older. Governor Murphy signed the legislation into law on February 22, 2021.

It is important to note that the passage of the Act does not immediately make “street pot” legal—instead, it provides the roadmap for businesses to become licensed so that they may take part in the future legal adult recreational cannabis market in New Jersey. Cannabis, however, will no longer be a Schedule 1 controlled dangerous drug under New Jersey law (although it remains so at the Federal level).

Although the Act is over 200 pages long, it still requires that the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (“CRC”) develop regulations to flesh out the details of how these arrangements will all be put into practice. For example, there are currently no application forms to apply for any license to operate in the cannabis market in New Jersey. These forms, their instructions, and a host of other details all need to be developed before any business can apply for one of the required licenses. The CRC has been given 180 days to develop these enabling regulations and forms. That said, individuals and businesses interested in entering into this market will want to keep apprised of the details of these ongoing regulatory developments so that they can position themselves to have already put arrangements in place which will allow them to immediately move forward with the application process as soon as it becomes available.

Adult Use Recreational Marijuana May Soon Be Legal, but Employers in New Jersey Are Left in the Dark

Published on: January 8, 2021 | by Elizabeth Engert Manzo

In November 2020, by a vote of 67.08% to 32.92%, the voters of New Jersey passed a ballot measure to amend New Jersey’s Constitution to make use of recreational marijuana by those over age 21 legal in New Jersey beginning on January 1, 2021. However, until legislation is signed by the Governor and rules and regulations are issued by the Commission, the details on legalization and the cannabis industry rollout are hazy. And, what may be worse for New Jersey employers, is the considerable uncertainty regarding how they can maintain a drug free workplace.

When will recreational marijuana become legal?

With voter approval to legalize weed, it is clear that there exists considerable pressure to quickly pass legislation which explains how New Jersey’s recreational marijuana program will roll out. And while some might suggest that recreational marijuana became legal in New Jersey on January 1, 2021, because the ballot measure contemplated a highly regulated and taxed recreational cannabis market, most agree that recreational marijuana is not, in fact, legal until New Jersey’s recreational marijuana law and regulations are enacted.

New Jersey Legislators Poised to Pass Recreational Marijuana Bill That May Send the Safety-Sensitive Exception up in Smoke

Published on: December 10, 2020 | by Kathleen M. Connelly

On the heels of the victory of the recreational marijuana referendum at the polls, the New Jersey Senate and Assembly moved swiftly to introduce proposed legislation regulating the use, licensing and taxation of marijuana. As of this writing the Legislature was close to sealing a deal and a vote could come as early as December 18, 2020. Despite the fact that marijuana use in the workplace has significant consequences for employers, especially those with high populations of safety sensitive workers, the most recent version of the bill is long on employee protections and short on protections for employers.

Preserved Employer Rights. Similar to the earlier Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act affording workplace protections to medical marijuana users, the proposed legislation provides that nothing in the Act shall be deemed to:

Restrict or preempt an employer’s right or obligation (as required for federal contractors) to maintain a drug- and alcohol-free workplace;

Immediate Impact of the New Jersey Hemp Farming Act

Published on: August 13, 2019 | by Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C.

With more than 750,000 acres in farmland, hemp has long been viewed as a viable crop for the Garden State as it would allow farmers to diversify their products and earn additional profits.

In the wake of the 2014 Farm Bill, New Jersey passed its Industrial Hemp Pilot Program, whereby certain individuals partnered with educational institutions to cultivate, process, research, test, and market safe and effective industrial hemp. The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and it is now regulated as an agricultural commodity by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDOA).

Upon the passage of this bill, lawmakers sought to repeal the New Jersey Industrial Pilot Program and replace it with the New Jersey Hemp Farming Act, which would establish a program for cultivation, processing, transport, and sale of hemp to be administered by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDOA).

NJ Hemp Farming Act

Published on: August 13, 2019 | by Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C.

A5322, known as the “New Jersey Hemp Farming Act” finally became law on Friday August 9, 2019. The New Jersey Hemp Farming Act (“NJHFA”) establishes a program for the cultivation, handling, processing, transport, and sale of hemp and hemp products in the State in accordance with federal law. The bill also repeals New Jersey’s hemp pilot program, and replaces it with a permanent program, administered by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture that complies with federal law.

Just like the 2018 Farm Bill, NJHFA defines “hemp” the plant Cannabis sativa L., any part of the plant, and all derivatives thereof with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”) concentration of not more than 0.3 percent, consistent with federal law. In other words, if the hemp has more than .3 percent THC, it will no longer be legal on a state or federal level.

Because hemp is a viable agricultural crop and the state wants to promote the cultivation and processing of hemp, the New Jersey now allows famers and businesses to cultivate (plant, grow, or harvest), handle (possessing or storing – exclusive of finished hemp products), process (convert hemp into a marketable form) and sell hemp products for commercial purposes. Farmers and businesses looking to cultivate, handle, process and sell hemp products for commercial purposes must submit an application to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (“NJDOA”). The application must contain GPS coordinates of the hemp farm, written consent from the cultivator allowing law enforcement and other officials to enter the property at will, a criminal background check of the applicant, and a non-refundable application fee. Other information may be required by the NJDOA as they implement this application process.

Kathleen M. Connelly Quoted in ROI-NJ – “Drug Dilemma”

Published on: July 29, 2019 | by Kathleen M. Connelly

Kathleen M. Connelly, a member of Lindabury’s Employment Law practice group, was recently interviewed by ROI-NJ regarding the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy on July 2nd. New Jersey joins a growing list of states enforcing workplace protections for medical marijuana users. Kathleen said the difficulty from the employer standpoint is the tension between understanding that people see benefits from cannabis in medical treatment but also needing to ensure these individuals aren’t under the influence while performing job duties.

You can read the full article here.