Marijuana: Business Owners Beware by Roger Morgan
M
ARIJUANA:
B
USINESS
O
WNERS
B
EWARE!
Marijuana is not a harmless drug. With THC content starting at 15% and ranging as high as 96%, it is no longer a soft drug. It doesn’t kill by overdose but it is a gateway to drugs that currently kill 129 Americans daily, almost all of whom started their journey with pot. But overdose isn’t the only adverse outcome of marijuana use. If you are a business owner or operator, it behooves you to know the following:
The Human Cost of Marijuana
- For the sake of your families and employees, it behooves you know that pot can cause permanent brain damage and loss of IQ by up to 8 points; psychotic breaks that have and are leading to violent acts and suicides, mental illness including schizophrenia, paranoia, bi-polar disorder and suicidal depression; addiction, more than for any other drug; birth defects; cancer and respiratory problems; and is a major cause of traffic fatalities. Any or all can adversely affect employees. Employers have a moral and possibly legal right to expect a safe and drug-free environment.
US Post Office
– A US Post Office study revealed that marijuana users had 75% more absenteeism, caused 55% more industrial accidents and 85% more injuries. (NIH) Marijuana use by employees adversely affects productivity and your insurance rates, while posing a safety problem for other employees and potentially the general public. Employers could be held liable for impaired drivers or machine operators who cause an injury accident while on the job.
Marijuana Negatively Affects
attention, memory, learning and cognition. Being fat soluble, it stays in the body and brain for 30 days, compounding with each additional hit. A recent UC Davis study showed that young people who consume cannabis will have lower incomes, greater welfare dependence, more criminal behavior and lower life satisfaction, meaning they won’t be your star employees. A study in Sweden of 45,000 reported by CBS revealed that 40% of teens who were heavy marijuana users died before age 60.
Addiction and Mental Illness
- More people (9% of adults, 17% of adolescents) are addicted to marijuana than any other drug. Addicts can’t work effectively, if at all. To feed their habit they have to steal or turn to other crimes. Today’s highly potent pot affects people differently, but roughly 30% of users have a use disorder, which includes addiction, mental illness, suicidal thoughts, et al. none of which can be condoned in a safe, drug-free and productive work place.
Impact on Society and Customer Base
– It is important to remember than only 8% of the adult population consumes pot, mostly at the expense of the 92% who don’t. Cultivation sites consume massive quantities of water (6 gallons per day per plant), pollute the earth and water tables pesticides and fertilizers, kill animals with rodenticides and diminish the quality of life and real estate values. Having a safe, healthy community is more important to most businesses than catering an industry that earns their living through illicit drugs.
Economic Impact of Drug Use
adversely impacts everyone. The life-time cost of a high school dropout is $392,000 (UC Santa Barbara Research). A study called Shoveling Up, done (
www.casacolumbia.org
) at Columbia University showed that in 2005, 19.5% ($19.9 billion) of the California budget was absorbed by substance abuse, of which marijuana is a major factor. Less than 1/3
rd
of 1% was spent on prevention and the balance shoveling up the damage and treating the wounded. This horrible economic policy affects us all as taxpayers and business owners. This State policy still exists today, and needs to change.
Employers would do well to require a drug test before hiring, and implement a policy of random drug testing as a deterrent. Employers have the right to reject employment for anyone who uses marijuana. Doing so would be sound, safe and responsible policy.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR ….
ROGER MORGAN
Chairman/Founder, Take Back America Campaign,
20 year anti-drug activist dealing with drug prevention at the local, state and national level. (
www.tbac.us)
.
Formerly Chairman and Executive Director of the Coalition for A Drug-Free California. Owner/CEO of Steelheart International LLC, engaged in international business development and has been an entrepreneur and businessman in California for 35 years. He was Founding Chairman of the Coronado SAFE Foundation in 1997, a non-profit dealing with drug prevention; prior Board Member of the San Diego Prevention Coalition; member of the National Coalition for Student Drug Testing; and Special Advisor to the Golden Rule Society in Coronado.