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Julie AitchesonApril 5, 2022

As cannabis legalization spreads across the country, businesses are desperate for willing workers and drug testing is one area where they are making concessions to fill their rosters. Cannabis employers can have drug testing and use policies just as stringent as those outside of the industry, and in any industry, when employees are found to have violated these policies, the consequences are real. In some cases, this can result in job loss, demotion, or losing out on a new job opportunity altogether. In more serious cases, when an employee tests positive for marijuana after being involved in an incident leading to injury or property damage, lawsuits often result, with outcomes that seldom favor the employee. This possibility is a major deterrent for those who choose to make marijuana or even CBD part of their health or recreation regimens.

A point of concern for employees both current and prospective are drug testing policies involving tests that lack the sensitivity to distinguish between THC (which is federally illegal) and CBD (which is legal as long as it is derived from the hemp plant and contains less than .3% THC). Employers such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) are announcing pro-legalization stances and excluding marijuana from pre-employment drug tests, placing it in the same policy category as alcohol. Positions at Amazon that are regulated by the US Department of Transportation will still be subjected to pre-employment testing, on-the-job impairment checks, and post-incident substance testing that include screening for marijuana. Amazon also reinstated the employment eligibility for former employees and applicants who were previously terminated or deferred during random or pre-employment marijuana screenings.

Relaxing drug testing policies is a growing trend, but not a new one. While Amazon may be one of the highest-profile companies to make this move recently, Las Vegas-based health care company Excellence Health, Inc. stopped drug-testing employees coming to work for the pharmaceutical side of the business back in 2018, and stopped testing for marijuana in 2016. The Denver Post ended pre-employment drug testing for all non-safety sensitive positions in 2016, and in 2018 the U.S.’s largest auto dealer, AutoNation, Inc. announced that it would no longer refuse the applications of prospective employees who tested positive for marijuana.

Back in 2018, jobs were considerably scarcer than they are now, but employers still struggled to get many candidates past the drug screening stage as cannabis legalization spread. Jobs are now plentiful, but job seekers are more discriminating and companies large and small are struggling to recover from the massive economic hit of Covid isolation and periodic lockdowns. It’s not just drug testing policies that are acting as a deterrent to prospective and desperately needed employees. Drug testing is expensive. The expense of pre-employment screenings in states where cannabis is decriminalized or legal at the state level can be hard to justify. Where larger, multi-state employers are concerned, implementing a boilerplate policy with legalization status differing from state to state may leave them vulnerable to discrimination or wrongful termination lawsuits.

While opinions vary about the impacts of relaxing drug testing policies as a means of addressing personnel shortages, tight budgets, and a constantly shifting regulatory environment, one thing is clear. The momentum for changing the way companies address employee marijuana use is building across industries, and the field is broadening for job seekers who wish to maintain their cannabis consumption without risking their livelihoods.

Debra BorchardtJune 2, 2021

The country’s leading e-commerce company Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) posted a notice to its U.S. Operations employees from Dave Clark, CEO, Worldwide Consumer regarding the testing for marijuana use with its employees.

The blog post read, “We’re adjusting our drug testing policy. In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use. However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course. We will no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation, and will instead treat it the same as alcohol use. We will continue to do impairment checks on the job and will test for all drugs and alcohol after any incident.”

The post went on to say, “And because we know that this issue is bigger than Amazon, our public policy team will be actively supporting The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act)—federal legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge criminal records, and invest in impacted communities. We hope that other employers will join us and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law.”

The move could set a precedent for other larger employers across the board as Amazon has now laid down the challenge.

Steve Allan, CEO of The Parent Company said, “Amazon’s recent announcement that it has evolved its position on cannabis both as an employer and through its public advocacy efforts represents a watershed moment in the long-standing effort to federally legalize cannabis, reform our criminal justice system, and create a more socially equitable society. As one of the largest employers in the country, Amazon’s announcement that it will no longer screen job applicants and employees for cannabis use, unless required to do so by the Department of Transportation, sets a robust precedent that has the potential to reshape hiring practices across the country.

Employment drug tests were adopted at the height of the War on Drugs in the late 1980’s, and in the ensuing decades these unnecessary tests disproportionately impacted low-income Americans and communities of color, limiting their access to economic opportunity. By helping establish a norm against such discriminatory hiring practices, Amazon can help undo one of the most damaging legacies of cannabis criminalization in this country.

Amazon’s complementary announcement that it will be publicly advocating for the passage of The MORE Act is also highly significant and unprecedented for a company of its size. The MORE Act would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, expunge the criminal records of non-violent cannabis offenders, and allocate tax revenue generated by the legal cannabis industry to communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. We at The Parent Company have always felt that the private sector plays such a critical role in pushing for equitable, progressive cannabis legislation. Due to the public clout of companies like Amazon, their support for progressive cannabis reforms will prove instrumental as we approach the final stages of federal legalization. “

Debra BorchardtJanuary 18, 2018

There is a huge disconnect between how cannabis consumers use social media sites like Facebook (FB) and how social media sites treat cannabis users. Polls have shown over 60% of Americans approve of legalization, making it one of the few things that many Americans agree upon. This is a formidable group of people that are also users of social media channels.

In survey data from Consumer Research Around Cannabis, 2.4 million over the age of 21 said they had bought or used marijuana in the past month. Of that group, 83% had logged on to Facebook. However, Facebook is very resistant to cannabis companies having pages on the site. The company regularly states that cannabis pages are promoting illegal drug use even if they are businesses that don’t even touch the plant. Many companies have complained about their pages being shut down with no warning and little recourse other than asking for an appeal from a vague link.

“I talked to the Facebook people about two years ago and tried to explain that a lot of businesses in the industry are using social media to inform and educate medical marijuana patients,” said Olivia Mannix Co-founder of cannabis marketing company Cannabrand. “If pages are shut down, then patients can’t get information about products in the stores, or find networks like cannabis patients group.” Cannabrand, like other cannabis companies, has learned that by avoiding the use of hot words like marijuana, cannabis, and weed to name a few and making sure that images don’t contain pot leaves posts can get by Facebook’s watchdogs.

Facebook didn’t respond to a request for a comment, but it seems steadfast in its approach to the cannabis community, no matter the size of the group. Cannabis company pages are generally allowed but boosted posts or ads are not.

Instagram And Cannabis

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook had been more permissive towards cannabis companies with regards to allowing cannabis posts, yet tougher when it came to allowing the profiles. According to Consumer Research Around Cannabis, only 56% of cannabis consumers even log into Instagram. Cannabis companies might be able to make these posts to reach their clientele, but then they learn the accounts disappear when Instagram decides it wants to shut them down.

Mike Coleman, Dir of Marketing for Medical Marijuana Inc. (MJNA) said, “Instagram has been more aggressive in policing cannabis. Facebook doesn’t seem to shut down pages even if they don’t allow ads.” He added, “I’ve heard of companies building a following on Instagram only to wake up and have it shut down. Its a tough place for a marketer to go.” Businesses are estimated to have spent $36 billion in social media advertising according to eMarketer, so it’s a significant place for companies to reach their customers.

Twitter (TWTR) is another marijuana friendly social media channel. Companies are given the green light for profiles and free rein on what messages they want to send out. Still, only 52% of cannabis consumers logged on to Twitter in the past month, while only 48% use Snapchat. So, the sites that seem to tolerate cannabis consumers, aren’t the sites where they are spending time. Even fewer cannabis consumers log on to LinkedIn with only 41% choosing to visit this platform.

CBD (cannabidiol) products get caught up in this marijuana blacklist. Mannix mentioned several hemp-based CBD companies, whose products are legal, but have experienced getting blackballed on the internet. Amazon (AMZN) has over 9,000 listings to purchase CBD products. Facebook allows Amazon to keep its page, even though by its own standards Amazon is promoting illegal drug use by selling CBD products, whereas a consulting firm for the cannabis industry that sells no products is considered to be promoting drug use. 73% of cannabis consumers logged on to Amazon in the past month according to the Consumer Research’s data. Making this one of the few places where cannabis users aren’t tossed aside.

Cannabis Consumers Prefer Google

Moving on to search engines, cannabis consumers are overwhelmingly on Google (GOOG) as 85% have logged on in the past month versus 44% for Bing. Yahoo is apparently not a choice at all. Jeffrey Stein of Consumer Research Around Cannabis said, “Yahoo was not included in the survey because it hasn’t been deemed relevant by our database subscribers. The primary search engines they are currently interested in are Google and Bing. If there is a sudden surge in demand for Yahoo, we would, of course, consider adding it back into our questionnaire.” “Google also has a hot list of ad words they do not allow,” said Kyle Porter, President of CMW Media. “Even in metadata or in the description you can’t use the words marijuana or cannabis. This makes it hard to reach the consumer with a new brand. For publishers, it’s hard to monetize content or reach consumers through traditional digital marketing plays.”

Porter noted that for some businesses, these “hot” words are found in the company name makes it even more difficult to use Google as a way to steer customers to the business. Porter did point out there are several websites that have been created to help the cannabis community get around these roadblocks. The drawback to these sites is that marketers aren’t able to reach fresh customers. They are already “singing to the choir.”

Internet Radio Allows Drugs In Songs But Not In Ads

Music seems to be a bigger pleasure with 54% logging into Pandora (P), while 50% choose Spotify. I Heart Radio is at 45%. Only 19% chose Google Play Music and 8% listened to Slacker Radio. While music sites regularly play songs that sing about drugs, they aren’t so happy about running ads for cannabis companies. “We’ve avoided Spotify and Pandora as well because we can’t target them,” said Porter. The irony is that The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers found in a study, “116 of the 279 unique songs (41.6%) had a substance use reference of any kind. Ninety-three songs (33.3%) contained explicit substance use references.” In other words, its okay for the artists but not the advertisers.

Netflix And A Preroll?

Cannabis consumers do love their entertainment with 74% enjoying streaming video and TV shows. Netflix is the provider of choice with 58% using that service. Amazon Prime was used by 29% and Hulu was used by 27%. Only 18% used iTunes. Maybe Netflix is the channel of choice because of its embrace of the community. Netflix has created original programming around Columbian drug lords in Narco, a light comedy based in a dispensary called Disjointed and a drama simply titled Cannabis. Netflix also created its own collection of cannabis strains with names that pay homage to shows like Orange Is The New Black. The collection was sold at the Alternative Herbal Health Services in West Hollywood last summer. Netflix obviously doesn’t have the same issues that Facebook does.

Just Send Me A Text

Really, the best way for businesses to reach consumers is through their phones. The vast majority of Americans – 95% – now own a cellphone of some kind. The share of Americans that own smartphones are now 77%, up from just 35% in Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone ownership conducted in 2011. So since most people own smartphones, that means most cannabis consumers own smartphones. Loyalty programs from companies like Baker push out promotional notices to customers through text messaging. Dispensaries just skip the middlemen and go directly to the consumer. Coleman said, “We have engaged in push marketing and it’s been effective. It’s a great way to build a contact list.”

All of the marketers believe that at some point all of these social media channels will change their policies and begin to be more friendly to cannabis companies. Once cannabis is legalized, they will probably change their policies to accept some form of advertising. For now, none want to run afoul of federal law and are opting to take a conservative approach. The question will be whether cannabis companies will feel they need these outlets when that time comes. Most have been forced to work around them for years and may have little desire to dance with them once they are ready.