Faculty Bibliography

Introduction: This article proposes a workplace cannabis policy paradigm that encompasses rapidly changing laws and regulations, legally defensible drug testing policies, and the needs of particular workplaces. Numerous states have now decriminalized medical or recreational use of cannabis, although U.S. federal law still defines cannabis as a Schedule I substance with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. For employers and employees, the confusion generated by this contradiction is exacerbated by the widely varying effects of the available cannabis delivery systems, the primitive and cumbersome drug testing protocols often used in workplace settings, difficulties in measuring cannabis-related workplace impairment, and a rapidly changing cultural ethos regarding cannabis. Although other articles have addressed many of the broad theoretical constructs, there exists little practical guidance on how workplace drug programs should address cannabis use by employees, both on the job and during off-hours. Materials and Methods: Research for this review was performed in the PubMed/National Library of Medicine database. Discussion: Cannabis use is associated with cognitive deficits, motivation problems, and perceptual distortions, so employers have a legitimate interest in preventing on-the-job impairment related to cannabis use. Similarly, employees have a legitimate interest in behaving as they wish outside of the workplace, as long as that behavior does not affect their job performance. Relevant statues and case law on the subject of cannabis in the workplace reflect different legal models across jurisdictions, in addition to legislators and judges' attempts to manage this tension between employer and employees. Conclusion: An effective workplace cannabis policy must fit into a larger workplace drug and alcohol policy. It should be constructed with a collaborative effort of addiction professionals, labor attorneys, and human resource professionals. Only then can the ultimate workplace cannabis policy comply with relevant laws, protect workplace safety and productivity, and support employees while remaining flexible enough to adapt to changes in the legal environment.

Reviews the book, Women and addiction: A comprehensive textbook edited by Kathleen T. Brady, Sudie E. Back and Shelly F. Greenfield (see record 2009-07257-000). The editors have assembled a well-written multiple author overview of addiction's effect on women, from basic biology, to treatment outcomes, specific substances, dual diagnosis, social/policy issues, and special populations such as adolescents and pregnant women. The book mostly avoids political or cultural comment and focuses on what measurable science and data the various authors can muster. The chapter authors concentrate on available studies, most from the last 15 years, and clearly define where information is sparse, and where it is nonexistent. The book admirably addresses all the major subjects related to gender differences in addiction, even if it does not speculate on why those important and clinically relevant differences were not examined much until recently. Tightly edited yet comprehensive, it will be useful to those clinicians who treat, study, or otherwise work with women.