What’s a Little Pot?!

One thing that drives me crazy about some people is their intermittent inability to face reality and own up to things they have done to plot their own demise. There are times that humans will blame anything and everyone else for their situation and not take ownership. Sometimes there are factors that influence people’s lives that are out of their control. This is not one of those situations.

“What’s a little pot?” was the question I had heard from the employee who “happened” to test positive in a drug screening. It is something that so many of us have heard in our careers and it usually does not end well. This is when either the EAP kicks in and we get help for the employee or we move to terminate. The sad part is that employee’s life at work will likely never be the same again. Regret. Fear. Apathy. We see all sorts of emotions in situations like this.

For many years, the line of what was legal and and not was clear and well known. When the urinalysis results come in, there is little room for grey. Marijuana is illegal and using it for recreational purposes likely would lead to a change in job status. And then there is Washington and Colorado. In 2012, the states of Washington and Colorado legalized forms of marijuana. Is this a flash in the pan or a beginning to a national momentum of cannabis legalization? The new legalization has surely impacted the way companies and businesses operate in these states.

As HR professionals, many of us have been programmed that the use of marijuana is probably the most common substance that shows up in drug screenings. Now companies in Washington and Colorado are faced with not only allowing employees to use cannabis, they might start offering marijuana in vending machines in or near these companies.

Check this out – http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/03/16327561-recreational-marijuana-users-could-get-pot-from-vending-machines-company-says?lite.

Imagine how surreal it would be to have employees smoking pot in the designated smoking areas. It is a culture shift that will prompt HR professionals to utilize our change management skills to modify the status quo. Imagine the generational brouhaha this could create! Thank goodness we are flexible – just be careful not to get too chill….

Don’t forget to CELEBRATE! (But don’t smoke pot if you have an upcoming drug screen.)