Providing for regulation by employers and other entities of the use of marijuana and derivatives thereof

This bill provides for regulation by employers and other entities of the use of marijuana in new Code chapter 94. The bill provides that marijuana includes any derivative of marijuana including but not limited to medical cannabidiol as defined in Code chapter 124E, the “Medical Cannabidiol Act”. The bill provides that an employer shall not be required to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, distribution, sale, or growing of marijuana in the workplace. The bill authorizes an employer to implement policies restricting the use of marijuana by employees for the purpose of promoting workplace health and safety. The bill authorizes an employer to include in a contract with an employee a provision prohibiting the use of marijuana. The bill authorizes an employer to establish and enforce a zero-tolerance drug policy or a drug-free workplace by use of a drug testing policy in accordance with Iowa law or any other procedures provided by federal statutes, federal regulations, or orders issued pursuant to federal law. The bill provides that a government medical assistance program, private health insurer, workers' compensation carrier, or self-insured employer providing workers' compensation benefits shall not be required to reimburse a person for costs associated with the medical use of marijuana. The bill provides that a person that owns, occupies, or controls a property may prohibit or otherwise regulate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, distribution, sale, or growing of marijuana on or in that property. The bill provides that a person shall not be subject to any claim, cause of action, sanction, or penalty, for discrimination or under any other theory of liability, under the Iowa civil rights Act of 1965 or any other provision of law, based on an act, omission, policy, or contractual provision permissible under Code chapter 94. The provisions of Code chapter apply notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary. The bill provides that an individual shall be disqualified from unemployment benefits if the department of workforce development finds that the individual became separated from employment due to ingesting marijuana in the workplace, working while under the influence of marijuana, or testing positive for any other controlled substance, for which the individual did not have a current prescription or which the individual was otherwise using unlawfully, under a drug testing policy pursuant to Iowa law or any other procedures provided by federal statutes, federal regulations, or orders issued pursuant to federal law. The disqualification shall continue until the individual has worked in and has been paid wages for insured work equal to times the individual’s weekly benefit amount, provided the individual is otherwise eligible.