Off-Hours Marijuana Use the Subject of Proposed Bill

A bill being proposed in the Colorado Legislature would keep employers from firing employees for off-the-clock activities, even if those activities are federally illegal.

House Bill 20-1089 will, if passed, protect employees who are doing things that are legal at the state level, but not the federal level from losing their jobs.

The bill is not designed to allow employees to medicate at work or show up to work high, but is designed to protect those who only use it on their own time, away from work.

The bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. Jovan Melton says it was due to a story of a man who had lost his job because of medical marijuana use and has had difficulty since then even getting a job.

Medical marijuana users, for example, are at high risk of losing their jobs should they be tested for marijuana because, as the law goes now, the employer has every right to.

The main idea behind the bill is to make sure state law and the state constitution agree.