Detox for Work: What Rhode Island’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary Will Mean for the Employed

Rhode Island opened its first medical marijuana dispensary this month in Providence. This is excellent news for those who require medical access to marijuana in the state, but what will it mean for those employed there?
 
The dispensary, called the Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center will likely help hundreds of area residents, so the question now becomes, will employers in Rhode Island become more tolerant of medicinal marijuana and relax their policies about drug testing employees?
 
At this point, it’s too early to tell by all accounts. “My boss has always been fine with it because she knows it’s for my personal reasons, but I have a friend with similar issues who resorts to using her son’s urine for random testing at work. It’s ridiculous that anyone would have to go to those extremes for plain old pot,” says Rebecca Horner of Providence.
 
Many tend to agree with Horner on this front, but it’s simply too soon to tell if employers will request that employees pass a drug test more frequently or if they will take this moment to be on what many constituents consider the right side of history.
 
Regardless, many Rhode Islanders are already well aware of methods for detoxing for a drug test, not the least of which is considered are techniques for urine dilution before a drug test as well as drug test shampoos for more vigilant employers who drug test via hair sample for pre-employment purposes.
 
“We know what we’re up against most of the time,” says an anonymous Rhode Island worker, “so if we have to use a detox product or some other way to pass, that’s what we do—no one here is looking to lose their job, we mostly just want our private lives to stay private.”
 
With the Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center now open for business, only time will tell whether Rhode Island employers will resort to more drug tests, or if detox product sales in the state rise.

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