The True Cost of Marijuana in the Workplace: Absenteeism and Medical Program Concerns in Pennsylvania

Can marijuana use really be costing businesses millions? In this episode of the Drug Report Podcast, we unpack a revealing study from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that draws a stark connection between cannabis use disorder and rising workplace absenteeism. From the financial strain on employers to the ripple effects on the economy, we analyze the true cost of marijuana in the workplace. We also bring to light alarming data from Quest Diagnostics, showing a surge in marijuana positivity rates, particularly following workplace accidents. Join us as we discuss the crucial need for robust drug prevention and treatment policies to sustain a safe and efficient work environment.

But that’s not all—we also expose a worrying trend within Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program. Through a gripping story from a Pennsylvania series, we uncover how doctors with checkered pasts, including drug dealing and revoked medical licenses, are still issuing medical marijuana cards. This revelation prompts us to question the integrity of medical marijuana programs and the potential for similar issues nationwide. We emphasize the vital role of media in shining a light on such misconduct and discuss the broader implications for the medical community and public trust. Tune in for a comprehensive look into these critical issues affecting workplace dynamics and public health.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yes or no?
Do you believe nicotine is notaddictive?
I believe nicotine is notaddictive.
Yes, congressman, cigarettesand nicotine clearly do not meet
the classic definitions ofaddiction.
I don't believe that nicotineor our products are addictive.
I believe nicotine is notaddictive.
Hello everyone, this is LukeNeferatos.
Welcome to the Drug ReportPodcast.

(00:21):
I am your host and I want tothank our two co-sponsoring
organizations SAM SmartApproaches to Marijuana, as well
as the Foundation for DrugPolicy Solutions they make
everything happen and ourwebsite, thedrugreportorg, where
you can get all the news.
It aggregates everything thatis important for those in drug
policy really any drug, not justmarijuana.

(00:42):
Though we spend a lot of timetalking about that drug, there
are many other drugs to discussas well.
So check out our website,thedrugreportorg, and subscribe
for our twice-weekly newsletter,which will be coming up
tomorrow.
So there you have it.
There is some big research thathas just come out, published
just today in the AmericanJournal of Preventative Medicine

(01:04):
.
I will just read theconclusions Okay, so this is a
study that looked at cannabisuse disorder and cannabis use
and workplace absenteeism, solooking for a potential
relationship between the use ofmarijuana and not showing up for
work.
This is just the two-sentenceconclusion section.
Individuals with recent andfrequent cannabis use and

(01:28):
cannabis use disorder aredisproportionately prone to
workplace absenteeism.
The results of this studysupport the enforcement of
workplace drug prevention andtreatment policies.
So what they found was morepeople who use marijuana are not

(01:49):
showing up for work and forthose who are employers, this
has a hard cost for employers.
They know what the cost is whenan employee doesn't show up for
work.
That's something that can bequantified and I think it would
be fantastic if people who areemployers, people in the
corporate space, did internalresearch on what that cost is,
just to help the publicunderstand what the business

(02:12):
cost is, what the cost to theeconomy that lost productivity,
what the cost is to the averageperson Because you figure,
people probably have a higherpropensity than to lose their
jobs if they're not showing upfor work.
So what's that cost to familiesand people?
There are all kinds oftrickle-down costs.
So the study found that over thelast 30 days, the mean number

(02:33):
of workdays missed.
So the average number ofworkdays that somebody missed
because of illness was 1.47 outof that last 30 days for people
who did not have a cannabis usedisorder but had used cannabis
in the last month For those whohad never used cannabis, the
mean number of sick days was0.95.
So it is statisticallysignificantly higher by almost

(02:54):
one day.
It is higher for someone whouses marijuana just in the last
month.
It doesn't even mean they'readdicted, it doesn't even mean
they're using it every day.
They have a higher rate ofabsenteeism than, basically, the
average person uses sick daysin the last month.
Now, it says, while infrequentcannabis use was associated with
work absences, those who had acannabis use disorder had a 1.3

(03:17):
to 2.87 times higher incidenceof missing or skipping work
compared to those withoutcannabis use disorder.
This is particularly importantbecause we are seeing
astronomical increases in therate of cannabis use disorder
across the country.
We now know that we have nearly20 million Americans who use
marijuana every single day andfit the description of cannabis

(03:39):
use disorder, so this issomething that matters.
Having higher rates of workplaceabsenteeism is something that
employers simply cannot ignore.
This comes, by the way, on theheels of research that came out
back in May, so a couple monthsago, from Quest Diagnostics.
They released their annualstudy that looks at marijuana

(04:00):
positivity rates across thecountry and at the state level,
and what they found was thatmarijuana positivity in the
general US workforce increased4.7 percent from 2022 to 2023.
Over the last five years it hasgone up 45 percent, with 2023
reaching the new peak.
So these rates continue toincrease.

(04:21):
That's people testing positivefor marijuana at the workforce.
So this absenteeism data thatjust came out is pretty
concerning when we look at therates of positivity in the
workforce continuing to climband what Quest Diagnostics, by
the way, also found.
So, moving away fromabsenteeism, they also found
that post-accident marijuanapositivity rates continue to

(04:46):
climb as well.
So people who were positive formarijuana and had a workplace
accident, that number hasincreased 114% over the last
nine years across the country.
And, by the way, this data alsolooked at the state level.
So they looked at states withrecreational marijuana laws and

(05:06):
states with medical marijuanalaws, and what they found was in
states where it wasrecreationally legal, the rates
essentially stayed the same from2022 to 2023 positivity rates,
but they decreased in medicalmarijuana states and they
decreased the most in non-legalstates.
States that didn't have medicaland didn't have recreational

(05:28):
saw the biggest drop inpositivity rates.
So clearly, if you're a statethat has a normalized commercial
structure allowing moremarijuana use, allowing the
advertising, promoting theproducts, you are much more
likely to have higher positivityrates in the workforce, which
means people are less safe,means people are not showing up
for their jobs, as this studyshows.

(05:48):
So this is something we need tobe thinking about as we head
into an election where you havecandidates on both sides of the
aisle that are pitchingsolutions for the workforce,
that are trying to solidify theAmerican economy.
Grow the economy, grow Americanjobs.
Make sure people are safe intheir jobs and more productive,
because we need more than everto increase the output of our

(06:11):
economy, and these sorts ofpolicies make no sense.
Legalization of marijuana,normalizing the drug,
normalizing the use of thesubstance in our workforce makes
no sense at all.
And yet you have organizationslike the Drug Policy Alliance,
which is basically counter toeverything that we believe in.
They want to legalize drugs andnormalize them.
They are advocating for acomplete, no exceptions ban on

(06:37):
drug testing.
That's in their 2020 visiondocument that they released, and
they continue to keep that ontheir website.
They want to ban all drugtesting.
They don't want a drug-freeworkplace, even in spite of
numbers like this and data likethis.
Research has suggested thatmore absenteeism, less safety,
and yet that's what they'readvocating for.
So there are folks that want tonormalize this substance and we

(06:59):
just cannot let them win theday in this policy discussion.
So very important, weunderstand this, check out this
research.
It's going to be in our DrugReport newsletter.
It's vital, I think, thatespecially employers and those
who are managing employeesunderstand this data and
understand what the impactscould be for the workplace and
for us in a broader policy senseas well.

(07:21):
Before I let you go, I wanted tohit on one other thing.
There was a really interestingwrite-up in the Philadelphia
Inquirer today that looked atyou know, the headline is One
Doctor's Battle to Rejoin.
Pennsylvania's MedicalMarijuana Program Reveals how
the State Wields Its GatekeepingPower.
And it's just hilarious becausethis article is written really
with a tone and a perspectivethat is sympathetic to the

(07:44):
plight of this doctor.
But the facts of this are, inmy opinion, not very sympathetic
at all and really emblematic ofthe entire medical marijuana
ruse and facade that it isacross this country.
So I'm just going to read thefirst couple of paragraphs here
because, it's just, their wordsare better than mine, quite
frankly.
So I'm just going to read thefirst couple of paragraphs here
because, it's just their wordsare better than mine, quite
frankly.
So Matthew Roman used to bePennsylvania's top doctor for

(08:05):
getting a medical marijuana card.
In 2018, the year dispensariesbegan selling cannabis in the
state quote-unquote medicalmarijuana.
Roman was the only doctor toissue more than 3,000 medical
marijuana certifications inPennsylvania.
Back then, roman was more thanjust a prolific certifier, which
I think is hilarious, butliterally basically a euphemism
for prolific drug dealer.

(08:25):
But nonetheless, he suedfederal officials in 2018,
claiming they unconstitutionallyblocked people enrolled in
state medical cannabis programsfrom buying a gun.
On social media, he showed offhis medical marijuana card and
offered the chance to win freecard consultations.
Again, this is a medical doctorwho is seeing patients and

(08:46):
writing prescriptions andquote-unquote recommending
medical marijuana under the ruseof medicine Free card
consultations.
In a late 2017 video viewed bySpotlight PA, he appeared to
roll and smoke marijuana whilein Delaware.
Underneath all the attention,roman had a drug problem.

(09:08):
Surprise, surprise, he latersaid and soon it all came
crashing down.
A state medical boarddisciplined him in 2019.
The consent agreement heentered into said he displayed a
problematic pattern of cannabisuse leading to clinically
significant impairment Whateverthat means doesn't sound good
and met the criteria forcannabis use disorder, so he

(09:31):
lost his ability to certifypatients for the state's medical
marijuana program.
Okay, so I'm going to end thereading there.
You can read the rest of thisarticle yourself.
But this is literally this isyou know, this is what medical
marijuana is.
It is an absolute ruse.
And the people who are tellingyou that this is medicinal are
using the drug themselves, andmany of them are actually

(09:54):
addicted to it, like this doctorwho is at risk of losing his
license over what occurred here.
So, once again and this, by theway, is the second story in a
several story series that's beenhappening in Pennsylvania,
where they've looked at doctorswho actually had histories of
drug dealing, histories oflosing their license, who now
participate in the medicalmarijuana program.

(10:16):
Okay, so, very clearly, and it'snot just reserved to PA
Thankfully there's some mediaand PA doing their job and doing
journalism and looking intothese issues, but if they did
this in every state, we wouldsee this time and time again.
I mean, you just look at whatdoctors are advertising these
medical marijuana card programsand you can see that they're all
of the same line of style ofdoctor, and that is, quite

(10:43):
frankly, a doctor who hasviolated his Hippocratic oath,
in my opinion, or her oath in myopinion.
So you know, this story to mejust really kind of describes
the status of medical marijuanaprograms and what a disgrace to
medicine it truly is.
So make sure you don't missthat story.
This story is going to be inour Drug Report newsletter as
well and, as always, we thankyou for listening.
Check out our newsletter, giveus a review on our podcast if

(11:04):
you can Five stars please, and areview written would be
wonderful, and have a great restof your week.