As New York Heads Toward Marijuana Legalization, Employers Grapple With Workplace Safety

As New York Heads Toward Marijuana Legalization, Employers Grapple With Workplace Safety
Construction laborers on a new residential building in the Brooklyn, New York City on Aug. 16, 2016. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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NEW YORK—Workers are arguably an employer’s most important asset. As New York State pushes to join the trend of legalizing recreational marijuana, some employers, particularly in safety-sensitive industries, foresee a host of problems if the law goes through.

The problems relate to the inherent difficulty of testing for marijuana impairment, and potential economic costs.