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Marijuana Policy and Business

Marijuana Policy and Business. The Laws they are-a-changing. Ohio - Marijuana News. Medical Marijuana Ohio Rights Group Recreational Marijuana Responsible Ohio Responsible Ohioans Ohioans to End Prohibition Better for Ohio. Responsible Ohio. Group of investors (10 names released)

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Marijuana Policy and Business

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  1. Marijuana Policy and Business The Laws they are-a-changing

  2. Ohio - Marijuana News Medical Marijuana • Ohio Rights Group Recreational Marijuana • Responsible Ohio • Responsible Ohioans • Ohioans to End Prohibition • Better for Ohio

  3. Responsible Ohio • Group of investors (10 names released) • 10 Grow Sites • 5 Testing Facilities • 21 or older – Personal use • Medical – any age, with parental consent • Home grows – 4 plants plus 8 ounces • 5% tax (plus 15% for grower and 15% for distributor) • Prediction - $554 million in tax revenue by 2020. • Projection are that they will sell about 250 tons of pot per year by then.

  4. Responsible Ohio Concerns • Marijuana monopoly • Children would be allowed access to “medical” marijuana (with written consent of a parent) • Home-grown pot can be shared • Program for low-income individuals to get low-cost pot • Physicians are not subject to any disciplinary or criminal action if the person issues a medical marijuana certification. • 1159 stores allowed – only 203 Starbucks in Ohio • Can “medical” marijuana folks use in public? the workplace? Correctional facilities? Daycares? Probation Issues (Arizona)?

  5. Taxes Ohio – Predicted recreational taxes = $554,000,000 Colorado – Predicted recreational taxes = $107,000,000 Actual total collected in 2014 = $63,414,883 • Medical (2.9%) = $10,886,966 • Retail Sales Tax (12.9%) = $39,186,917 • Wholesale Retail Excise Tax (15%) = $13,341,000 • Nearly 40% - black market Tax structure • 15% tax on grower • 15% tax on distributor • 5% retail tax • No tax on medical • No tax on home grown (shared only)

  6. Youth Marijuana Use

  7. Northwestern University Northwestern Medicine at Northwestern University 1. December, 2013 – Brain Abnormalities with Chronic Use • “The younger drug abuse starts, the more abnormal the brain.” • Of schizophrenia patients surveyed, 90% used before schizophrenia set in 2. April, 2014– Casual Marijuana Use Linked to Brain Abnormalities • Changed the volume, shape and density of gray matter in brain – effects on decision making • “I’ve developed a severe worry about whether we should be allowing anybody under age 30 to use pot unless they have a terminal illness and need it for pain.” • March 2015 - Teen cannabis users have poor long-term memory in adulthood • Daily users – Hippocampus changes that influenced memory (18% worse on long term memory tests) • Two years marijuana free and did not change results

  8. Link between Marijuana and Mental Illness • Meta-analysis was conducted by Australian researchers in 2011 for the Archives of General Psychiatry • used 83 studies to assess the impact of marijuana use on the early onset of psychotic illness. • The findings were clear and consistent: “The results of meta-analysis provide evidence for a relationship between cannabis use and earlier onset of psychotic illness…[The] results suggest the need for renewed warnings about the potentially harmful effects of cannabis.”

  9. Responsible Ohio Language Section J(4) - Nothing in this section is intended to require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display or transportation of medical marijuana, marijuana, homegrown marijuana, marijuana-infused products or marijuana accessories in the workplace or to affect employer’s ability to restrict the use of such products by employees, except that a patient with a medical marijuana certification may self-administer the medical marijuana subject to the same conditions applied to administration of prescribed medications.

  10. Who Are the Medical Cardholders? In states where measured, patients: • Have less than 5% of all patients have the life threatening issues • Over 90% use for chronic pain • Average cardholder - 32 year old white male with no history of chronic illness and a history of substance abuse • Cardholders are in the workforce

  11. Quest Diagnostics Employee Drug Testing (November, 2014) • Positive results nationally haveincreased by 6.2%since 2012 • Double digit increases in Colorado (20%) and Washington (23%) • 415,000 estimated pot users in the workforce in Colorado • Marijuana most frequently for positive tests

  12. Business Concerns – Employer Wins Discrimination Suits • Michigan – Joseph Casias sued his employer • Case dismissed by Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • Maine – Brittany Thomas sues Adecco • ACLU is taking this case up • Colorado – Brandon Coats sued Dish Network • Court ruled wasn't illegal firing because marijuana is an illegal drug federally

  13. However… • WSJ article - "Medical Marijuana Poses Litigation Risk to Employers." (August 15, 2013) – Cost employers between $69,000 and $107,000 in costs, not including any award. • Unemployment – Michigan Chamber of Commerce • New Mexico – Vialpando v. Ben’s Auto Servs. and Redwood Fire and Casualty - Employer must pay for pot? • Little Spyder Creations – 47 workers – had to fire 25 in the last year because of marijuana use.

  14. Legalization Impact on Business • Marijuana use is a problem in America that is getting worse, not better. • Marijuana use has a direct impact on safety and productivity in the workplace. • Laws that legalize marijuana use, for whatever purpose, may complicate but do not eliminate employers' rights to maintain drug-free workplaces. (Impaired vs. Under the Influence) • Scientific testing for impairment is hard to define. • Marijuana is still classified as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance; therefore, it is illegal under federal law. • Guidelines are vague – State vs. Federal Law • “The fact that it's not FDA-approved for anything is usually enough to deny compensability ... under workers compensation.” -Occupational Health and Safety Online (2/1/14)

  15. Workplace Concerns • Drug Use Impacts: • increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers' compensation claims, productivity and job turnover • 3.6 times the accidents on the job • 5 times the accidents off the job • Which then effects - • BWC rates • Insurance coverage • HR responsibilities • Are jobs going unfilled in Ohio because of failed drug tests?

  16. Illegal Drug Use Costs to Businesses Economic Costs • $120 billion productivity costs • $11 billion in healthcare costs • $61 billion in criminal justice costs Labor Force • Higher Turnover - full‐time workers aged 18‐64 who reported current illicit drug use were more than twice as likely as those reporting no current illicit drug use to report they had worked for three or more employers in the past year (12.3% versus 5.1%). • Higher Absenteeism - full‐time workers who were current drug users were more likely to report missing two or more workdays in the past month due to illness or injury, when compared with workers who were not current users (16.4% vs. 11.0%). • Full‐time workers who were current drug users also were about twice as likely as non‐users to skip one or more days of work in the past month (16.3% vs. 8.2%). - White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)

  17. Prison and Marijuana • Ohio is a decriminalized state – 100 grams (3 ½ oz.) – maximum penalty is $150 fine and no jail time. • Ohio has 1% of all state prisoners for marijuana crimes (possession, trafficking, cultivation, other crime) • Alcohol – a legal drug - not cocaine, heroin, or marijuana, is responsible for 2.6 million arrests every year. That is one million more arrests than for all illegal drugs combined. • Colorado since legalization – arrests are down but still a disproportionate arrest rate.

  18. Not Just Smoking…

  19. Meet Claude… • Black Cherry Gummy Bear • THC Infused • 100 milligrams of THC per bear • Colorado labeling– 10 mg per serving • Foot = one serving

  20. Wyoming College Student Levy ThambaPongi – Northwest College Ate one marijuana cookie – recommended serving size was 1/6 of a cookie. Jumped out of window Autopsy – marijuana intoxication was a “significant contributing factor.”

  21. Marijuana Wax • Wax is to marijuana as freebasing is to cocaine • Risk of burns and homes blowing up • Learn how to cook wax on YouTube • FEMA issued bulletin in February to identify BHO production • 32 hash oil explosions in Colorado in 2014 with 12 in 2013 and 0 in 2012 • Can exceed 80% THC

  22. Dabbing and Vaping

  23. Legalization = Commercialization • Decriminalization does not equal legalization • Legalization equals commercialization • Impact on workplace is undeniable but also undefined • Responsible Ohio plan will impact employers in productivity, safety and costs.

  24. Questions?

  25. Contact Information Tony Coder Drug Free Action Alliance 6155 Huntley Road, Suite H Columbus, OH 43229 tcoder@DrugFreeActionAlliance.org 614-540-9985 www.DrugFreeActionAlliance.org/marijuana

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