In a long-awaited and highly-anticipated decision, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously upheld an employer’s termination of an employee who tested positive on a drug test due to his off-duty use of medical marijuana. Interpreting Colorado’s “lawful activities statute,” the Court held that the term “lawful” refers only to activities that are lawful under both state

A tip regarding employee on-the-job drug use by an unidentified source, relayed second-hand by a news reporter, is insufficient to establish individualized reasonable suspicion (required under the Fourth Amendment) to require a public employee to submit to a drug test, according to a recent decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District

An employee’s admission of off-duty marijuana use was not “misconduct” sufficient to deny unemployment benefits, even if it may have been a sufficient reason for his discharge, according to an Illinois appellate court.  Eastham v. The Housing Authority of Jefferson County, No. 09-MR-57 (Ill. App. Ct. 5th Dist. Dec. 2, 2014).

Eastham worked for

A new study published by Quest Diagnostics reported an increase in the workforce drug test positivity rate for the first time in ten years, fueled primarily by marijuana and amphetamines.  The Quest Drug Testing Index (DTI) released on September 11, 2014 also showed a large increase in positive marijuana test results in Colorado and Washington,