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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 620 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2179
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Chynah Tyler
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act prohibiting employment discrimination based on the legal use of cannabis.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Chynah Tyler7th Suffolk1/10/2025 1 of 3
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 620 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2179
By Representative Tyler of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2179) of Chynah
Tyler relative to prohibiting employment discrimination based on the legal use of cannabis.
Labor and Workforce Development.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1955 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act prohibiting employment discrimination based on the legal use of cannabis.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Section 4 of chapter 151B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
2following subsection:-
3 Section 1. Definitions
4 For the purposes of this Act, the term
5 "(1) "Marijuana" shall mean all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, not excepted
6below and whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; and resin extracted from any part of the
7plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its
8seeds or resin including tetrahydrocannabinol as defined in section 1 of chapter 94C. 2 of 3
9 "(2) "Qualifying patient" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section (K) of
10Chapter 369 of the Acts of 2012
11 "(3) "Employer" means the any business or employer operating in the Commonwealth
12and the government of the Commonwealth and municipalities
13 “(4) "Prospective employee" means any individual applying for employment with an
14employer.
15 "(5) "Safety sensitive position" means a position with duties that, if performed while
16under the influence of drugs or alcohol could lead to a lapse of attention that could cause actual,
17immediate, and permanent physical injury or loss of life to self or others.
18 Section 2. Restriction on pre-employment marijuana testing and employment conditional
19on marijuana testing.
20 (a) An employer may only test a prospective employee for marijuana use after a
21conditional offer of employment has been extended, unless otherwise required by law. Further,
22no employer or agent of an employer may directly or indirectly solicit or require an employee or
23prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of marijuana in his or her system as a
24condition of employment
25 (b) Nothing in this act shall be construed to:
26 (1) Affect employee compliance with employer workplace drug policies for any
27substance other than marijuana as defined in Section 1 of this Act; 3 of 3
28 (2) Require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession,
29transfer, display, transportation, sale, or growing of marijuana in the workplace or at any time
30during employment; or
31 (3) Interfere with federal employment contracts
32 (b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to safety sensitive positions or if
33compliance would cause the public employer to commit a violation of a federal law, regulation,
34contract, or funding agreement.
35 Section 3. Patient protections.
36 "(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as provided in subsection (b)
37of this section, an employer may not refuse to hire, terminate from employment, penalize, fail to
38promote, or otherwise take adverse employment action against an individual based upon the
39individual's status as a qualifying patient unless the individual used, possessed, or was impaired
40by marijuana at the individual's place of employment or during the hours of employment.
41 "(2) A qualifying patient's failure to pass an employer-administered drug test for
42marijuana components or metabolites may not be used as a basis for employment-related
43decisions unless reasonable suspicion exists that the qualified patient was impaired by marijuana
44at the qualifying patient's place of employment or during the hours of employment.
45 "(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to safety sensitive positions or if
46compliance would cause the public employer to commit a violation of a federal law, regulation,
47contract, or funding agreement."