![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-82.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The mayor of Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday introduced a proposed ordinance that would make it so applicants for most city government positions would not be drug tested for marijuana as a pre-employment condition.<\/p>\n
Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) has been a notable advocate for reform. Last year, he filed a since-enacted measure to remove all local criminal penalties for cannabis possession<\/a>.<\/p>\n This latest proposal would \u201cprohibit the City from conducting pre-employment testing for marijuana,\u201d with certain exemptions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shall be unlawful for the City of Kansas City to require a prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of marijuana in the prospective employee\u2019s system as a condition of employment,\u201d the text of the measure states.<\/p>\n Exceptions would be made for law enforcement, jobs requiring a commercial driver\u2019s license or that involve supervision of \u201cchildren, medical patients, disabled or other vulnerable individuals\u201d and positions where the \u201cemployee could significantly impact the health or safety of other employees or members of the public, as determined by the City Manager and set forth in regulations pursuant to this Chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n Kansas City government should not freeze qualified individuals out from government jobs due to marijuana usage, especially with medicinal marijuana legalized in Missouri and recreational marijuana legalized in surrounding states.https:\/\/t.co\/pe3Q5D5oQB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mayor Quinton Lucas (@MayorLucasKC) July 22, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cKansas City government should not freeze qualified individuals out from government jobs due to marijuana usage, especially with medicinal marijuana legalized in Missouri and recreational marijuana legalized in surrounding states,\u201d Lucas said in a Twitter post.<\/p>\n The proposed ordinance<\/a> has been referred to the Special Committee for Legal Review.<\/p>\n \u2014 Last year, Lucas announced a pardon program for those with previous convictions for possession of marijuana or paraphernalia.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking to eliminate pre-employment marijuana testing from the City application process is one of several common-sense steps I\u2019m proud my administration has taken to build an inclusive City workforce and ensure employment opportunities exist for more Kansas Citians\u2014particularly for hourly workers who disproportionally come from Kansas City\u2019s Black or brown communities,\u201d the mayor said in a statement about the new move.<\/p>\n Drug testing for cannabis has become a hot topic of late since the Olympics suspension of U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson<\/a>, with more people arguing that use of the plant shouldn\u2019t lead to punishments, especially given the ongoing rise of the legalization movement.<\/p>\n For example, the Biden administration has come under fire this year for terminating or otherwise punishing staffers who were honest about their past cannabis use as part of the background check process.<\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said that nobody in the White House was fired for \u201cmarijuana usage from years ago,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0nor has anyone been terminated \u201cdue to casual or infrequent use during the prior 12 months.\u201d However, she\u2019s consistently declined to speak to the extent to which staff have been suspended or placed in a remote work program because they were honest about their history with marijuana on a federal form that\u2019s part of the background check process.<\/p>\n Last month, a powerful congressional committee released a report that urges federal agencies to reconsider policies that result in the firing of employees who use marijuana legally in accordance with state law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separate standalone legislation has been previously introduced by Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) to\u00a0provide protections for federal workers<\/a>\u00a0who consume cannabis in compliance with state law, but it never received a hearing or a vote and has not been refiled so far this Congress.<\/p>\n As of last year, New York City employers are no longer able to require pre-employment drug testing for marijuana<\/a> as a part of the hiring process\u2014though there are a series of exemptions to the policy. The City Council approved the ban in 2019, and it was enacted without Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s (D) signature<\/a>.<\/p>\n Back in Missouri, a group of activists recently filed four separate initiatives<\/a> to put marijuana reform on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot, a move that comes as other advocacy groups are preparing separate efforts to collect signatures for cannabis ballot petitions of their own.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, still other activists are focusing on getting the legislature to pass a resolution to place the question of legalization before voters next year.<\/p>\n Lucas told Marijuana Moment last year<\/a> that he\u2019d \u201cabsolutely sign\u201d a legalization initiative \u201cbecause I think, you know, this is the way things should go and it\u2019s going to be essential for us.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Sports Authority Backs \u2018Liberalization\u2019 Of Marijuana Laws, Official Tells Lawmakers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Kansas City Mayor Files Ordinance To Ban Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing For Most City Workers<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The mayor of Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday introduced a proposed ordinance that would make it so applicants for most city government positions would not be drug tested for marijuana as a pre-employment condition. Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) has been a notable advocate for reform. Last year, he filed aContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":49050,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49049"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49051,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49049\/revisions\/49051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nMarijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,100 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-81.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Kansas City Mayor Files Ordinance To Ban Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing For Most City Workers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"