Before we try to clear the smoke on the issue of medical marijuana, we should first put the subject in its proper context. Regardless of the strength of the arguments in favor of or against medical marijuana usage, its use in the workplace is primarily a safety issue. Prudent construction employers have always made safety a priority, and they now have a new safety threat: the expanding use of medical marijuana and the expanding cultural expectation that employees should be allowed to light up any time because of health issues.
Construction sites are inherently hazardous. In 2015, of 4,379 private industry fatalities, 937 (21.4%) were in construction.1 OSHA’s “Fatal Four” in the construction industry are: