Designing a Program That Works With Your Marijuana Laws

A ‘Day with DISA’ was DISA Global Solution’s first marijuana symposium, which educated employers on the importance of implementing a drug testing program that’s custom to their companies’ needs. For the event, DISA invited a number of select industry experts to present sessions to further help employers with valuable drug testing insights.

If you didn’t get the opportunity to attend the Day with DISA conference, or if you would like to review this presentation again, you can download or watch it using the link below.

Nina French, managing partner at Current Consulting, and DISA’s very own Frank Bernard, Vice President of Ethics and Compliance, teamed up to present Designing a Program that Works with Your Marijuana Laws. This session helped employers better understand what’s necessary to create a drug testing program that follows industry best practices for medical marijuana policies, how to design that program to include the right testing methodologies, and why the regular review is important to ensure the best program possible.

Frank commented, “As the landscape continues to change when it comes to marijuana use, safety, prescription drugs, and, of course, abuse, it is critical now, more than ever, for employers to address their policy issues.”

Here are a few key factors to take away from the presentation that emphasize the importance of building and implementing a drug testing program that pertains to your marijuana laws:

According to the 2017 National Safety Council, 81% of policies are incomplete, with 67% of employers’ policies not adequately addressing employee prescription drug use and abuse.

Five basic elements your drug testing program should include:

• A clearly written policy

• Employee education

• Supervisor training

• An employee assistance program

• Drug testing

Substance abusers cause 38-50% of all workers’ compensation claims and are 5 times more likely to submit a claim than their non-substance-abusing co-workers. – National Council on Compensation Insurance

When designing a program, employers need to understand why their company drug tests, the legal requirements, budget, timing, and procedures to efficiently create something that will continue to protect their company and employees as marijuana laws progress and change over time.

Nina adds, “There are costs and work to be done as you design and develop your program, but it is stuff that you have to do to stay healthy and fit as an organization.”

Nina and Frank emphasized the importance of creating a custom program suitable for meeting the needs of safety-sensitive positions and the overall workplace while maintaining compliance standards within your industry. By following best practices and taking the time to develop a custom testing program, you’ll better protect your company moving forward and be able to easily adapt to changes in marijuana laws when and/or if they arise.

Read about other presentations from Day with DISA:

2019 Owner Survey: Employee Screening Trends & Best Practices

Creating a Drug-Free and Safer Workplace by Psychemedics.

Are you an employer and still have questions regarding employment screening?

DISA can help! Get answers directly from DISA’s subject matter experts with ‘Ask DISA’

Visit www.askdisa.com to ask your questions today.