New Jersey lawmakers have introduced a series of bills meant to empower employers to punish workers—including law enforcement and other first responders specifically— from using marijuana off duty in compliance with state law.
The filing of the legislation comes amid a controversy over a document released by the state attorney general’s office last month that explained how New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis law currently allows police to use marijuana when they are not on the job.
Now there are three new bills that generally seek to impose restrictions on such activity for select employees.
One measure, from Rep. Louis Greenwald (D), is seeking to amendment state statute to permit law enforcement agencies to penalize police for cannabis use, conduct random drug tests for marijuana and refuse to hire applicants due to lawful cannabis use.
As it stands, according to the state’s top prosecutor, law enforcement agencies are barred from taking adverse action against officers who use marijuana as long as such use is compliant with the recreational legalization law that was implemented last month.