Philadelphia Bans Drug Screening For Certain Employees

PHILADELPHIA — Some employers in Philadelphia are no longer allowed to test prospective workers for marijuana thanks to a new bill approved by the Philadelphia City Council last week.

The council voted 15 to 1 in favor of Bill No. 200625, which "prohibits employers from requiring prospective employees to undergo testing for the presence of marijuana as a condition of employment, under certain terms and conditions."

Testing is still allowed when applying for certain safety sensitive positions, such as police officers and/or those who supervise children or medical patients.

Additionally, those mandated to be drug tested under federal drug testing guidelines can also be tested.

The bill will take effect Jan. 1, 2022 after Mayor Jim Kenney signs it.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws's Deputy Director Paul Armentano testified in favor of the bill at an April hearing before the council.

"There’s no evidence to support the claim that those who consume cannabis in the privacy of their own home away from the job pose a unique workforce safety threat or risk,” he said. "Suspicionless marijuana testing in the workplace, such as pre-employment drug screening, is not now, nor has it ever been, an evidence-based policy. Rather, these discriminatory practices are a holdover from the zeitgeist of the 1980s ‘war on drugs.’ But times have changed; attitudes have changed, and in many places, the marijuana laws have changed. It is time for workplace policies to adapt to this new reality and to cease punishing employees for activities they engage in during their off-hours that pose no workplace safety threat."