The Answer is Still ‘No’

Every couple of weeks, we receive a call or email from someone asking, in some version, whether it’s truly illegal for a Federal employee to use marijuana. We always tell them we can’t dispense (haha, get it?) legal advice over the phone, but it doesn’t stop them from asking. Some memorable questions include whether getting high in Canada would preclude a Federal employee from being disciplined in the U.S., if being very tall and therefore more susceptible to getting high from secondhand smoke is a valid defense to failing a drug test, and whether it is against the law for a Fed’s spouse to grow marijuana in the home and sell it for profit.

We’ll tackle this topic in detail in a session called High Times and Misdemeanors: Weed and the Workplace during our second annual Federal Workplace: Accountability, Challenges and Trends virtual showcase the last week of September. Plus we’ll look at timely challenges such as Covid-19 EEO issues, medical requirements, re-boarding employees, and more.

This month’s newsletter features stories on an important Fed Circuit decision, vaccination requirements, and much more.

Take care,

Deborah J. Hopkins, FELTG President

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