NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission rolls out long-awaited guidance

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission has issued long-awaited guidance, but it’s only provisional. The commission has yet to issue standards on the required certification process for the workplace experts who will be designated to detect an employee’s on-the-job impairment from cannabis (among other substances). Here’s what New Jersey employers need to know now.

Background

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMMA) prohibits New Jersey employers from discriminating against employees who lawfully use cannabis outside of work and who don’t report to work impaired by the substance. Because cannabis metabolites linger in an individual’s system—and in some cases long after use—it’s sometimes impossible for an employer to determine based solely on a drug test if an employee is impaired while on the job.

The commission seeks to address the tension between CREAMMA’s antidiscrimination provision and an employer’s right to a drug-free workplace by mandating the certification of workplace impairment recognition experts (also referred to as WIREs). WIREs are employees or third parties who are trained to detect an employee’s on-the job impairment from cannabis or another substance.