Week 6 EOC: Pot in the Workplace

When it comes to deciding if marijuana is a good or bad thing in the workplace, there are many things to consider. The major one is safety, the reason any company would prohibit marijuana in the workplace. “Marijuana over activates parts of the brain that contain the highest number of these receptors. This causes the "high" that users feel.” (https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana) Which means your senses, body movement, and brain get altered. An employer wants to know he can trust his workers, and some users have been known to miss work or get injured. Medical marijuana is another thing to consider, “an estimate of 2,604,079 medical marijuana users throughout the states since Mar. 1, 2016 have been made legal.” (http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=005889) Patients who use marijuana medically should not have to go through drug tests, and should be considered a good thing. These patients require their “medicine” in order for them to function. Marijuana is known to alter your mind and body, but it can also be used treat cancers and diseases. It prevents nausea, relieves pain, and helps with weight gain; which can help boost an employee’s mood and can lead to a better work performance. But, “under Federal Marijuana Law cannabis is treated like every other controlled substance, such as cocaine and heroin. The federal government places every controlled substance in a schedule, in principle according to its relative potential for abuse and medicinal value.” (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/federal_marijuana_law) 26 states have legalized the use of marijuana, 7 states for recreational use. Each state has different laws limiting the use of marijuana, and just recently California and Nevada passed laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. So, considering the pros and cons I would have to side with it being acceptable in the work place.