Arkansas employers are in the weeds with medical marijuana

If the recreational marijuana ballot is passed, how it will impact Arkansas' employers and employees is as hazy as the rafters at an Eagles concert.

State of play: The state's current law prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee or applicant if they're a medical marijuana patient or caregiver.

Yes, but: An employer can have drug-testing policies and discipline an employee for possession, use or being under the influence at work or during work hours.

• Employers can choose to keep an employee from working in a safety-sensitive position — like forklift driver or school bus driver — if there's a good faith belief they're a user of medical marijuana.

Between the lines: The use of marijuana is still illegal on a federal level, so contractors and businesses working with the federal government may require drug testing of employees.

The big picture: There's no agreed metric to determine marijuana intoxication, so testing will reveal only that someone has used the drug, but may not reveal if they're currently impaired.

Yes, and: While many employers drug screen applicants, Quest Diagnostics reports that employer tests for marijuana were down 5% in 2020 from 2015, which could be a trend of broader acceptance.

What they're saying: "There's a lot of uncertainty of how Issue 4, if it's passed, will impact employers in Arkansas," Nate Read with Mitchell Williams law firm in Rogers tells Axios.

The bottom line: If the law is passed, the Arkansas General Assembly may look to set guidelines for recreational marijuana in January.

Go deeper:

• What's in Arkansas' recreational marijuana amendment.
• Issue 4 is a nail-biter.
• Arkansas' medical marijuana stats.