Proposed WA Bill Would Do Away With Job Applicant Pot Tests

A proposed WA State Senate Bill has sailed through, which would remove pot from pre-employment drug testing.

  Democrat Senator claims practice is discriminatory

According to The Center Square, Democrat Senator Sen. Karen Keiser, D-DesMoines, who heads the Senate Labor and Commece Committee, current under-employment issues make this a necessity:

“It comes down to discriminating against people who use cannabis. For people using a legal substance, having a pre-employment test like this is just plain unfair, and we should stop it.”

However, the bill, which passed along party lines 28-21 with one Democrat joining the 20 GOP Senators in voting no, would still allow current drug testing programs in the workplace to maintain a drug-free environment. Apparently, it would just remove pot from the job application testing process.

Senate Bill 5123 would, according to a statement from Senate Democrats:

“not prohibit using tests for other drugs, and it would not prohibit using cannabis tests after accidents or because of suspicion of impairment,” (by way of The Center Square).

The bill would not apply to Federal jobs in WA state, where pot is still illegal and applicants must meet Federal standards.

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No specific word if this bill would apply to such positions as school bus drivers, educators, or others who work in safety sensitive sectors.