A new study found that marijuana use away from work is not associated with any lingering negative effects on workplace performance.
The study reported that an employee’s marijuana use either during work hours or immediately before work were associated with “counterproductive work behaviors,” whereas “after-work cannabis use was not related (positively or negatively) to any form of performance as rated by the user’s direct supervisor,” NORML reported.
“[C]ontrary to commonly held assumptions, not all forms of cannabis use harmed performance,” the authors concluded. “In fact, after-work cannabis use did not relate to any of the workplace performance dimensions. This finding casts doubt on some stereotypes of cannabis users and suggests a need for further methodological and theoretical development in the field of substance use.”
Over the past few years, many cities have started to enact legislation to reduce cannabis-specific pre-employment drug testing.