Stereotypes and medical marijuana in the workplace

Marijuana is growing in acceptance as a legitimate form of treatment for many disorders,injuries, and illnesses. However, due in large part to Federal law and social stereotypes, medicalmarijuana is still not considered an acceptable medication to organizations that drug test theirworkforce. While companies are generally protected legally from granting the same allowancesfor medical marijuana as they do for other medications, a change in Federal law could forceemployers to face the reality of a workforce that includes those who use marijuana as a medicine.The current study used policy capturing to investigate whether the social stereotypes ofmarijuana use translate into workplace stereotypes that affect judgments co-workers. Resultsshowed individuals do consider marijuana use when making judgments of reliability, safety, andperformance of potential co-workers. Those who use marijuana are were found to be judged lesspositively than those who do not use marijuana. Moderating variables of this finding areexamined. Findings suggest future research in variables that may decrease stereotyping ofmedical marijuana users is necessary to prepare for future Federal policy changes that mayoccur.