Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2179 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 620 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2179
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Chynah Tyler
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act prohibiting employment discrimination based on the legal use of cannabis.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Chynah Tyler7th Suffolk1/10/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 620 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2179
18	18	By Representative Tyler of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2179) of Chynah
19	19	Tyler relative to prohibiting employment discrimination based on the legal use of cannabis.
20	20	Labor and Workforce Development.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 1955 OF 2023-2024.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act prohibiting employment discrimination based on the legal use of cannabis.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 Section 4 of chapter 151B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
32	32	2following subsection:-
33	33	3 Section 1. Definitions
34	34	4 For the purposes of this Act, the term
35	35	5 "(1) "Marijuana" shall mean all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, not excepted
36	36	6below and whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; and resin extracted from any part of the
37	37	7plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its
38	38	8seeds or resin including tetrahydrocannabinol as defined in section 1 of chapter 94C. 2 of 3
39	39	9 "(2) "Qualifying patient" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section (K) of
40	40	10Chapter 369 of the Acts of 2012
41	41	11 "(3) "Employer" means the any business or employer operating in the Commonwealth
42	42	12and the government of the Commonwealth and municipalities
43	43	13 “(4) "Prospective employee" means any individual applying for employment with an
44	44	14employer.
45	45	15 "(5) "Safety sensitive position" means a position with duties that, if performed while
46	46	16under the influence of drugs or alcohol could lead to a lapse of attention that could cause actual,
47	47	17immediate, and permanent physical injury or loss of life to self or others.
48	48	18 Section 2. Restriction on pre-employment marijuana testing and employment conditional
49	49	19on marijuana testing.
50	50	20 (a) An employer may only test a prospective employee for marijuana use after a
51	51	21conditional offer of employment has been extended, unless otherwise required by law. Further,
52	52	22no employer or agent of an employer may directly or indirectly solicit or require an employee or
53	53	23prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of marijuana in his or her system as a
54	54	24condition of employment
55	55	25 (b) Nothing in this act shall be construed to:
56	56	26 (1) Affect employee compliance with employer workplace drug policies for any
57	57	27substance other than marijuana as defined in Section 1 of this Act; 3 of 3
58	58	28 (2) Require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession,
59	59	29transfer, display, transportation, sale, or growing of marijuana in the workplace or at any time
60	60	30during employment; or
61	61	31 (3) Interfere with federal employment contracts
62	62	32 (b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to safety sensitive positions or if
63	63	33compliance would cause the public employer to commit a violation of a federal law, regulation,
64	64	34contract, or funding agreement.
65	65	35 Section 3. Patient protections.
66	66	36 "(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as provided in subsection (b)
67	67	37of this section, an employer may not refuse to hire, terminate from employment, penalize, fail to
68	68	38promote, or otherwise take adverse employment action against an individual based upon the
69	69	39individual's status as a qualifying patient unless the individual used, possessed, or was impaired
70	70	40by marijuana at the individual's place of employment or during the hours of employment.
71	71	41 "(2) A qualifying patient's failure to pass an employer-administered drug test for
72	72	42marijuana components or metabolites may not be used as a basis for employment-related
73	73	43decisions unless reasonable suspicion exists that the qualified patient was impaired by marijuana
74	74	44at the qualifying patient's place of employment or during the hours of employment.
75	75	45 "(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to safety sensitive positions or if
76	76	46compliance would cause the public employer to commit a violation of a federal law, regulation,
77	77	47contract, or funding agreement."