HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3667        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3751

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Chynah Tyler

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to eliminate workplace drug testing for marijuana.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3667        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3751

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act to eliminate workplace drug testing for marijuana.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 4 of chapter 151B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

20. (1) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no employer or agent of an employer may directly or indirectly solicit or require an employee or prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of marijuana in his or her system as a condition of employment. For the purposes of this subsection the term “marijuana” shall mean all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, not excepted below and whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; and resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin including tetrahydrocannabinol as defined in section 1 of chapter 94C.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any agreement between an employer or agent of an employer and an employee or prospective employee offering employment or any pay or benefit to an employee or prospective employee in return for the employee or prospective employee submitting to testing for the presence of marijuana in his or her system is prohibited.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the testing for the presence of marijuana in the system of an employee or prospective employee who is subject to drug testing under any of the following:

(a) any regulation promulgated by the federal Department of Transportation that requires testing of an employee or prospective employee or any rule promulgated by the department of transportation of the commonwealth adopting such a regulation for purposes of enforcing the requirements of that regulation with respect to intrastate commerce;

(b) any contract entered into between the federal government and an employer or any grant of financial assistance from the federal government to an employer that requires drug testing of employees and prospective employees as a condition of receiving the contract or grant;

(c) any federal statute, regulation or order that requires drug testing of employees and prospective employees for purposes of safety or security;

(d) a substance abuse prevention program or a collective bargaining agreement between an employer and a labor organization representing employees and prospective employees of the employer;

(e) rules requiring drug testing of prospective state, county or municipal law enforcement officers.

SECTION 2. Section 133B of chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “forty-nine”, the following words:- ; provided, however, that revocation of such permit is prohibited if the only ground for revocation was the use of marijuana, except for offenders who are court ordered to remain marijuana-free.

SECTION 3. Section 133D of said chapter, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the figure “149”, in line 95, the following words:- provided, however, that the use of marijuana shall not be a violation of a condition of community parole supervision except for offenders who are court ordered to remain marijuana-free .

SECTION 4. The first paragraph of section 87A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- The use of marijuana by a person on probation shall not be a violation of a condition of probation unless such person is court ordered to remain marijuana-free.