Is it Social? How Legal Marijuana Affects Your Business

Recent generations have become more and more accepting of marijuana. It’s estimated that the percentage of Americans who support marijuana legalization have skyrocketed by over 500%. While social change is a powerful thing, popular opinion is levels under the influence that laws hold. That’s why marijuana’s rapid change was fast-tracked to center stage by marijuana legalization in Alaska, Washington, Colorado, and many others. In conjunction, social change and lawful change has caused the growth of marijuana usage to become a concern for businesses across the country.

For many businesses, having an employee show up and be alert is ideal for them to be their most productive and avoid perils. However, prohibiting marijuana from your business specifically is not a very effective way to go about this for a number of reasons. On one hand, laws surrounding pre-employment marijuana screening are becoming stricter or outright barred. While this is only a state basis for right now, it has begun to sweep across the country. This makes it more difficult for nation-wide companies to keep track and increases the likelihood that it will come to your state if it hasn’t already. Alternatively, on an individual level, having employees who are more relaxed and satisfied results in better working environments and higher productivity as a result. 73% of all marijuana users say being high improves their work performance, for example.

While there are a variety of ways marijuana is making its way into the workplace, one thing is for certain. Marijuana and the increased prevalence of users is not likely to go away. Whether you’re in construction, retail, or anything in between, it’s important to prepare your business for the future of marijuana.

Marijuana at Work? State by State
Source: US Drug Test Centers

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By Adam

Adam is an owner at Nanohydr8. He really loves comedy and satire, and the written word in general.