(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/12/23) Certain state employees will no longer be tested for marijuana during the hiring process under a regulation change that was unanimously approved Wednesday by the Michigan Civil Service Commission (MCSC), which will test for marijuana in the same way as for alcohol.
MCSC Chair Jase Bolger said many positions that involve carrying weapons, driving vehicles or having other such dangers – like corrections and police officers – will continue to be subjected to marijuana screenings when being hired.
“If somebody overindulges in alcohol on Friday night – they shouldn’t do it and I don’t think they should be getting high on Friday night – but Monday morning when they come to work, they’re likely not under the influence either, so we’re going to treat them the same,” Bolger said.
However, the changes to Regulation 2-7 will still allow testing if an employee is suspected of being high or drunk at work, or after an accident.
Bolger explained that better tests need to be developed to determine if someone was under the influence of marijuana while on the job, or if the substance was absorbed when they got out of work.
“We need better tests. We need technology to catch up so we can tell whether somebody’s under the influence while doing those things, or are we picking up usage from a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
Commissioner Jeff Steffel, who retired from the Michigan State Police, had questions about the policy change before the vote. He said he would like to see the state continue to test because of accident issues associated with chronic usage of marijuana that he read about from the American Medical Association.
“We want good employees. We want competent workers and competent government and that’s my concern with this,” Steffel said.
Bolger and Steffel said that the people of Michigan voted for recreational marijuana in the state and state employment should reflect that change.
Bolger said he didn’t think there would be a significant change to the number of state employees that would be affected, adding that out of the tens of thousands of employees there might end up being 100 impacted.
“Like summer work, in a part we saw a lot of people screened out that we may have wanted to hire, but I think, overall, I’ll be surprised if there’s significant change,” he said.
Steffel said he didn’t know what effect the change would have on employment with the state.
“I would not be the first person to say what I think is going to happen, because I have no idea,” he said.
