What is the benefit of recreational marijuana use in this state...? (credit, attorney)

[sorupaa]

Alasken thunder fyuc, green houses help

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by lucky4life

The law prevents people from getting in legal trouble for simply smoking pot. It's a good bill. Sending people to jail for smoking pot is pretty ridiculous.

With that being said, private companies can do whatever they want. If they don't want to hire pot smokers, then so be it. The biggest problem employers have with pot is that so many people that smoke it, do it on the job. While alcohol is worse for you and causes people to do more crazy stuff, it's pretty hard to get away with getting drunk on the job. That, and if you had an addiction to booze that required you to drink at work, you could never hold a real job in the first place. This means that employers don't care if people drink because they assume that it's not happening on the clock.

Marijuana on the other hand, is super easy to smoke all day long without getting caught for any real stoner. As someone that used to smoke a ton of weed, I can tell you that pretty much every real pothead I knew then and know now, smokes on the job, drives stoned, and engages in a ton of other activities that one should be sober while doing on a daily basis. Add to this that about 1 out of 3 people that smoke the herb are "potheads." People will deny this, and I'll most likely get flamed for saying this, but it's 100% true and employers know this.

That's why most "real" jobs require a pee test for Marijuana.


Flame on stoners! lol

Testing is more about the company's insurance than the personal preference of the owner. We never tested at our business because our insurance didn't require it (we were too small), but honestly, I'd rather have had smokers on the place then meth creeps. I'm not sure how people get away with smoking it on the job because of how it smells, though.

[lucky4life]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Testing is more about the company's insurance than the personal preference of the owner. We never tested at our business because our insurance didn't require it (we were too small), but honestly, I'd rather have had smokers on the place then meth creeps. I'm not sure how people get away with smoking it on the job because of how it smells, though.

I did it for years, but I also was a cable guy that didn't work in an office, so there was time to blaze and freshen up in my van between service calls. I never really felt it affected my work performance, but I also had a cake job that was mostly unsupervised throughout the day. I was pretty much stoned 24/7 from the time I was 17 until I went back to school at 25. I also smoked heavily in college, but after barely passing intermediate algebra, I knew it couldn't be a daily thing anymore and finally grew out of it.

I'm a physical therapist these days, and I would never smoke on the job; however, I do know PT's and PTA's that do. To be honest, if smoking weed didn't make me so paranoid like it does for some reason now, I could easily do my job slightly stoned all day without getting caught. Where weed would really affect even a seasoned stoner's job performance would be in a field like accounting, engineering, or teaching an advanced subject like econ or chemistry. There's just no way one could perform as well in fields that require lots of thinking. My job requires lots of knowing and not so much thinking just like most medical professions, which means anyone with their green lungs could cruise through the day stoned with little difficulty if they were willing to risk it.

[sorupaa]

Some jobs would be good for smoking, like making a game or a video. Some jobs would be bad like being a bus driver, people would be like why are you driving slow

[whirnot]

For most employers it is safety and insurance. If you test "Hot" it is in your bloodstream. You may not "Feel" that it has any effect anymore, but cannot prove it. There just aren't standards that say what the levels are VS what the performance is, so most companies will just ban it to protect themselves. There is no benefit for them to allow it, but there could be a potential liability so they choose not to allow that liability.

So, you are the cable guy and run over someones kid in the driveway, and test hot. The parents are going to own that cable company. They won't take the risk.

[Beaconowner]

Originally Posted by lucky4life

The biggest problem employers have with pot is that so many people that smoke it, do it on the job. While alcohol is worse for you and causes people to do more crazy stuff, it's pretty hard to get away with getting drunk on the job. That, and if you had an addiction to booze that required you to drink at work, you could never hold a real job in the first place. This means that employers don't care if people drink because they assume that it's not happening on the clock.

Marijuana on the other hand, is super easy to smoke all day long without getting caught for any real stoner. As someone that used to smoke a ton of weed, I can tell you that pretty much every real pothead I knew then and know now, smokes on the job, drives stoned, and engages in a ton of other activities that one should be sober while doing on a daily basis. Add to this that about 1 out of 3 people that smoke the herb are "potheads." but it's 100% true and employers know this.

That's why most "real" jobs require a pee test for Marijuana.

Flame on stoners! lol

You make quite a number of assertions with nothing but your personal experience (or imagination) to back it up. Not credible.

With most companies in the US having a non-smoking policy inside any buildings, you are implyinng that these "stoners" have to go outside to smoke it. I don't believe you could get away with that at most companies on a daily or more frequency, unless you left the property, and that would be a policy violation most places without prior permission, so I doubt what you are saying is true, but if you can substantiate it with a study or even a news article, please do so.

I think the smell of marijuana smoke would be a lot harder to conceal at work than alcohol breath, so I don't agree with your conclusion there either.

Many companies DO CARE about their employees and offer confidential counseling, in addition to medical benefits, that cover alcohol and substance abuse.

I work in a small company (600 people on site) but I don't know of anyone that has been let go for marijuana use in the last 16 years. Even if there is someone in the company using it, termination should be based on performance not what's in your pee.

From what I've seen, testing is usually done to meet insurance or government contractor requirements, it has nothing to do with how "real" the job is.

I haven't seen too many companies in the legal or financial services fields, where I've worked for most of the last 30 years, test their professional staff.

Depends on your definition of "pothead" but I disagree with you on that also. What I see are that a majority of marijuana users are casual users, and only a very small number, (even the government says less than 10%, and I think it's even much lower than that given it's weak addictive qualities), are hard core habitual users that spend the day more or less stoned.

If these people are your friends you need to get more responsible friends. It is likely that if they engage in such risky behaviors like this, they also engage in other risky behaviors.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

In my former world, from which I am now retired, (military/aerospace engineering and manufacturing) drug testing was only done for new hires, and if the company suspected drug use.

If you were an employee and came clean, requested counseling and treatment, your were OK and got to keep your job.

But if you had to take the test and tested hot, you were fired on the spot, no second chances.

If you were a professional assigned to a military or federal project you were randomly tested.
If you happened to work someplace like an FAA repair station, you were tested randomly and regularly.

I talk to my former colleagues often, and there is quite the rumor mill going on right now as far as what will happen when marijuana becomes officially legal in Oregon.

My insider advice: If you have a job even remotely connected to anything federal, stop smoking pot right now.

[Larry Caldwell]

If you ever have a liability accident while employed, you WILL be tested and terminated if you test positive.

[OldSoulInANewBody]

Originally Posted by Beaconowner

You make quite a number of assertions with nothing but your personal experience (or imagination) to back it up. Not credible.

With most companies in the US having a non-smoking policy inside any buildings, you are implyinng that these "stoners" have to go outside to smoke it. I don't believe you could get away with that at most companies on a daily or more frequency, unless you left the property, and that would be a policy violation most places without prior permission, so I doubt what you are saying is true, but if you can substantiate it with a study or even a news article, please do so.

Are you saying that it would be easier to get away with indoors? Dude, no. My place of work, and all of my previous places have had designated smoking spots. I see people vaping daily. DAILY. Do I go up to them and ask if it's pot or if it's e-cig juice? No, because that would be a violation of their privacy. Just because they don't bring their bongs to work, doesn't mean that it's exactly what you think it is. What if they rolled their own cigarettes? They could easily put in a little weed and make it a spliff (spliff is a tobacco and weed cigarette/joint) and no one would know because the smoke would smell like tobacco.

I think the smell of marijuana smoke would be a lot harder to conceal at work than alcohol breath, so I don't agree with your conclusion there either.

This is incorrect. Let me explain. With smoking, you can effectively hide the smell by a few simple things. Change clothes, use spray deodorant, and brush your teeth. At that point, you can be sitting right next to someone having a normal conversation and no one would be the wiser.. The key here is to breath down and not in someones face. With alcohol, you become less aware of your surroundings and (with all alcoholics I know) you'll breath directly at someone, and it's not easy at all to hide the smell. But, with weed, all you really need to do is eat something or drink something and it will mask your breath. Unlike booze, where you'll still have that boozy smell even after a sandwich or a cup of coffee.

Many companies DO CARE about their employees and offer confidential counseling, in addition to medical benefits, that cover alcohol and substance abuse.

You must live in some fantasy world. Whatever job you have, I want. Workplaces do not care. To them, you are just a number. You are dispensable. Unless you have a degree in something that gives you worth, they can easily find a replacement if you become an issue. If you fail a pee test, they will fire you at most places of employment. They don't just test you for kicks, they are testing you because you've either become a problem, you've been tattled on by a coworker, they just don't like you, or if the insurance requires tests annually. My father was tested 10 times over the course of 2 months because his employer hated his guts.

I work in a small company (600 people on site) but I don't know of anyone that has been let go for marijuana use in the last 16 years. Even if there is someone in the company using it, termination should be based on performance not what's in your pee.

So, you're basing your argument on your place of work, which doesn't come close to being the same as every other workplace out there? Yes termination "should" be based solely on performance, but it's not. Have you actually seen anyone get fired at all? What gives you the impression that the information as to why they were fired would be disclosed to you? That's unrealistic.

From what I've seen, testing is usually done to meet insurance or government contractor requirements, it has nothing to do with how "real" the job is.

So, the fact that I was never tested at Jack in the Box but I've been tested several times since I've worked in security has nothing to do with how "real" a job is. Sure. From what you've seen, this may be true, but what you've seen doesn't outline the facts. It doesn't accurately describe anything that happens outside of your own little world. Things happen differently in different locations. In Oregon, if you're caught with anything in your system you'll be fired. Almost regardless of workplace.

Depends on your definition of "pothead" but I disagree with you on that also. What I see are that a majority of marijuana users are casual users, and only a very small number, (even the government says less than 10%, and I think it's even much lower than that given it's weak addictive qualities), are hard core habitual users that spend the day more or less stoned.

Do you actually get out of your house? Ever? You should. According to this About Marijuana it says that ~100 million Americans have smoked pot. There is currently 318.9 million people living in the US, as of 2014. That's roughly around 30%. Also, is there no in between with casual users and habitual users? What defines a casual user and a habitual user? If I were to smoke one bowl everyday, would I be a habitual user? Not from my perspective. And I definitely wouldn't be spending my day more or less stoned. Being high only lasts roughly 8 hours. The higher your tolerance, the less it lasts, and vise versa. And after the first few hours, you begin to regain your sobriety. You'd still technically be stoned/high, but the strongest effects hit you first, then you slowly return to the sober world.

Before you start taking apart someone else's comment, you should do your research. Sorry man, but you're here acting as if you know everything and nearly everything you said was completely false. If you really want to know the facts, there are plenty of useful sites with accurate information out there.

[Metlakatla]

I don't know about that. Weed smoke gets caught in the hair pretty easily; most people can't wash their hair while at work.