Marijuana and the Workplace (Morning Session)

Description

MARIJUANA AND THE WORKPLACE

As states trend toward marijuana legalization, popular notions about the safety of the substance are often misunderstood or over-stated. This leads to new questions and quests for more information on the topic, such as: “How safe is marijuana REALLY?” “What are the expected outcomes for employers in states where marijuana laws are changing?” “What long-term impacts can be anticipated where legalization is embraced?” and “How can we best prepare to protect the safety of our work place?” We will hear from national expert and Colorado resident, Jo McGuire, about actual outcomes and best practices for maintaining safe and drug free workplaces.

Jo McGuire
Jo served on the Colorado Governor’s Task Force, that recommend a legislative framework for Amendment 64 which legalized marijuana for recreational use in Colorado, as a part of the Taxation, Banking and Civil Law work group, where she was the voice for safe and drug free workplaces.  She continues to work closely with national health experts to educate state and federal policy makers on the importance of public health and safety pertaining to drug policies. She represented the Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry at the First Latin American Safe and Drug Free Workplace Congress and the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Agreements and was recently added to the speaker’s bureau for the National Marijuana Initiative as the subject matter expert on the impact of legal marijuana to the workplace.
Jo is the President & CEO of Five Minutes of Courage which allows her to speak to a broad array of audiences on the lessons learned from marijuana legalization in Colorado, particularly the impact to the workplace. Jo is also the Senior Projects Manager for TSS Inc. with six drug and alcohol testing locations throughout Alaska and the Midwest that help keep her rooted in the day-to-day oversight of TPA operations.
Jo McGuire is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association, whose purpose is to educate and advocate for safe and drug-free workplaces, families and communites.


Tony Coder
We will also hear from Tony Coder, Director of Program & Services, Ohio Assoc. of County Behavioral Health Authorities.  Tony will be speaking about the details of the Ohio Law ans what employers need to know.
Tony Coder joined the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA) as the Director of Programs and Services in 2017 and leads up the Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care, peer support and marijuana policy issues for the organization.  Prior to joining OACBHA, he was the Director of State and Local Affairs for Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), an organization founded by former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy to be an advocate for public health impacts as states considered marijuana legalization measures.  In this role, Tony was the main liaison to SAM’s more than three-dozen affiliates and the central contact for all state and local campaigns related to marijuana policy.  This role also allowed him to work with communities on the impacts that high-potency marijuana has on mental health, specifically earlier onset of schizophrenia and higher incidences of psychosis-related issues.
Previously, he served as the Assistant Director at the Drug Free Action Alliance where he was the policy director for substance use prevention and mental health wellness issues for the agency. Mr. Coder was appointed to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee in 2016 by Governor John Kasich, a 14-member group providing insight and expertise to the rule-making process for medical marijuana in the State of Ohio. In 2015, Mr. Coder led the grassroots organizational effort against the marijuana legalization initiative in Ohio. Tony also worked with Ohio’s First Lady Hope Taft on substance use issues and served as the Assistant Deputy Director of External Affairs of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services where he led the legislative division of the Department.