California governor signs employment discrimination bill protecting after-work cannabis use

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Sunday signed into law a bill that adds California to the list of states that do not allow employers to penalize employees who smoke marijuana "off the job and away from the workplace," the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to Assembly Bill 2188, sponsored by Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), the new law will restrict employers from basing employment decisions on a drug test that indicates the presence of "nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites" in an employee's hair or urine.
After using cannabis, the cannabinoid responsible for causing mind-altering effects, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can remain in the body for several weeks. Those metabolites do not indicate that the person is presently intoxicated but rather that they have recently consumed cannabis.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dale Gieringer, director of the California chapter of cannabis advocacy group NORML, responded to the news, saying, "Workers should have the same right to use cannabis as to use other legal substances off the job."
Exceptions to the law include people working construction jobs and applying for or being employed in a role requiring a federal background clearance. Employers are still allowed to require drug tests as a prerequisite for employment, so long as the drug tests "do not screen for nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites."
Newsom signed nine other cannabis policy bills along with the employment discrimination bill. Other policy changes include sealing prior cannabis-related criminal convictions and a new interstate cannabis business transactions process.
The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why are sinkholes becoming more common?
Podcast Plus, will Saudi investment help create the "Netflix of sport"? And why has New Zealand's new tourism campaign met with a savage reception?
By The Week UK Published
-
How Poland became Europe's military power
The Explainer Warsaw has made its armed forces a priority as it looks to protect its borders and stay close to the US
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 - 21 February
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Russia frees US teacher Marc Fogel in murky 'exchange'
Speed Read He was detained in Moscow for carrying medically prescribed marijuana
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Hamas pauses Gaza hostage release, upending ceasefire
Speed Read Hamas postponed the next scheduled hostage release 'until further notice,' accusing Israel of breaking the terms of their ceasefire deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Baltic States unplug from Russian grid, join EU's
Speed Read Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are disconnecting from the Soviet-era electricity grid to join the EU's network
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
At least 11 killed in Sweden adult ed school shooting
Speed Read The worst mass shooting in Swedish history took place in Orebro
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff Published
-
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Thailand
Speed Read The law grants same-sex spouses the same rights as married heterosexual couples
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Top Israeli general to resign over Oct. 7 failures
Speed Read Herzi Halevi took responsibility for his failure to prevent the attacks that sparked Israel's war in Gaza
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
80 dead in Colombia amid uptick in guerrilla fighting
Speed Read This was the country's deadliest wave of violence since the peace accords set by President Gustavo Petro in 2016
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published