The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission has issued guidance for workplaces as a first step towards formulating and approving standards for Workplace Impairment Recognition Expert certifications.

 The guidance and “Reasonable Suspicion Observation Report Form” issued by NJ-CRC is meant to support employers right to create and maintain safe work environments, and to affirm employees’ right to due process.

 Among other things, the guidance iterates that employees cannot be acted against solely due to the presence of cannabis in their body, that but employers have the right to drug test on reasonable suspicion of impairment.

 “Striking a balance between workplace safety and work performance and adult employees’ right to privacy and to consume cannabis during their off hours is possible,” said Jeff Brown, NJ-CRC's executive director. “We have been doing that with alcohol without thought.”

 The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission establishes and enforces the rules and regulations governing the licensing, cultivation, testing, selling, and purchasing of cannabis in the state.