A survey of 742 employers in safety-sensitive and non-safety sensitive industries revealed widespread concern regarding the impact of marijuana in the workplace.
2. • Reflects responses from 742 HR and general management employees
• Industries surveyed included construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail, mining,
hospitality and food services, transportation, and utilities
• Businesses surveyed ranged in size from 1-10 employees to more than 5,000
• Survey was conducted by the market research firm OnTarget and fielded January 10 - 22, 2018
• Margin of error is +/-5%
• Locations of businesses surveyed were in states where marijuana was legal, not legal, and both
2
Survey Methodology
WHERE OPERATIONS LOCATED ABBREVIATION USED
TOTAL
(742)
Only in states where
marijuana is legal
Legal 28%
Only in states where
marijuana is not legal
Not legal 24%
In states where legal and
not legal
Both 45%
Question: Which best describes where your company’s operations
are located in context to marijuana legalization?
Note: 3% responded not sure. These responses were not included in the report.
3. 1. Across the country, employers voiced a high level of concern in response to
the expanding legalization and use of marijuana.
2. Regardless of the status of marijuana legalization or industry in which
companies operate, there is widespread concern regarding the impact of
marijuana on business.
3. The most significant areas of concern in response to increasing employee
marijuana use are employee safety, lost productivity, and increased costs.
4. Employers are responding to expanding medical and recreational use with drug
policy modifications or plans to modify drug policies.
5. Even where marijuana is legal, either medically or recreationally, a majority of
employers have limitations on off-duty use and do not make accommodations
for medical use.
6. A vast majority of employers expressed interest in a marijuana breathalyzer
that could detect and measure recent use.
3
Key Findings
4. 4
4
82% of companies are somewhat or very concerned
by legalization
Overall Level of Concern Related to
Marijuana Legalization and Use
Question: Which of the following best describes your company’s overall level of concern
related to the legalization and increased use of marijuana?
39%
43%
18%
Very concerned
Somewhat concerned
Not concerned at all
5. 5
Employers expressed almost equal concern regardless of legalization
status: 76% in “legal” states and 79% in ”not legal” states
5
Concern Regarding Marijuana Legalization
and Increased Use is a National Issue
Question: Which of the following best describes your company’s overall level of concern
related to the legalization and increased use of marijuana?
76%
79%
89%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Legal Not Legal Both
Marijuana Legalization Status
Very concerned
Somewhat concerned
6. For safety-sensitive industries, the level of concern was above 85%
and for non-safety-sensitive industries the level of concern was above 70%
6
Question: Which of the following best describes your company’s overall level of
concern related to the legalization and increased use of marijuana?
Employers in Non-Safety-Sensitive Industries also
Expressed Concern about Marijuana Legalization
85%
89%
91%
91%
91%
76%
71%
79%
Construction
Manufacturing
Utilities
Transportation
Mining
Wholesale
Retail
Hospitality / Food
Very concerned
Somewhat concerned
SAFETY-SENSITIVE
NON-
SAFETY-SENSITIVE
7. 8
Question: How would you rate your company’s current level of concern with the following workplace
issues related to the use of marijuana on a scale of 1 – 7, where seven means very concerned and one
means not concerned at all? Percentages reflect combined 6 and 7 scores.
7
TOTAL
(742)
CONS
(144)
MANU
(128)
UTILITIES
(34)
TRANS
(96)
MINING
(11)
WHLSALE
(82)
RETAIL
(152)
HOSP/
FOOD (95)
Workplace safety 65% 74% 70% 77% 74% 73% 67% 50% 52%
Lost productivity 59 63 65 62 59 73 56 47 62
Higher workers'
comp incidents &
costs
57 64 64 41 66 73 57 46 50
Absenteeism 51 51 57 59 52 36 49 44 53
Employee
Retention
50 57 48 53 52 73 44 43 53
Safety and Economic Impact are
Top Concerns for the Majority of Employers
Workplace safety is biggest concern at 65%, followed by
productivity and workers’ comp costs at near 60%
8. 6
8
The Majority of Businesses Have Modified or
Plan to Modify Policies Concerning Marijuana Use
Question: In response to the expanding legalization of marijuana, has your company already modified existing
policies concerning its use? Is your company planning on modifying its policies concerning the use of marijuana
in response to the expanding legalization of marijuana?
Over 70% of respondents in legal states and over 40% in not legal states have
modified or plan to modify marijuana policies concerning its use
74% 72%
42%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Legal Both Not Legal
Marijuana Legalization Status
Planning to modify
policies
Have modified polices
9. 5
9
Companies are Still Struggling with Whether to
Accommodate Medical Marijuana
47%
54%
36%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Legal Both Not Legal
Marijuana Legalization Status
% Responding Yes
Less than 50% of respondents from companies operating in
states where medical marijuana is legal report currently
making accommodations for medical marijuana use
Question: Does your company make accommodations for employees
to use medical marijuana?
10. 5
10
Question: Does your company allow employees to use
recreational marijuana outside of work hours?
56%
75%
79%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Legal Both Not Legal
Marijuana Legalization Status
No
Yes, with limitations
Respondents Limit or Prohibit
Marijuana Use while Off-Duty—
Even where Legal
56% of respondents from legal states
limit or do not allow marijuana use outside of work hours
11. 5
11
Drug Testing is Most Prevalent in
Pre-Employment Screens
More than 70% of respondents include drug testing as part of
their pre-employment screen. More than half conducts various
types of post-employment tests.
Question: From the list below, please select all the types of drug testing currently
being used by your company.
74%
58% 57%
53%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Pre-employment For cause Random Post-accident
12. 11
12
Question: Based on your company’s existing drug use policies, would a potential employee be hired if they
tested positive for marijuana during a pre-employment screening?
Note: this question was asked only of 547 respondents who conduct pre-employment drug tests.
The Majority of Employers Surveyed Still Would Not
Hire a Candidate for Employment if They Tested
Positive for Marijuana
56%
60%
80%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Legal Both Not Legal
Marijuana Legalization Status
% Responding No
56% of respondents would not hire a candidate if they
tested positive in legal states
13. 5
13
Actions Taken After First-Time Violation of
Marijuana Use Policy Vary
Written and verbal warnings are among the most common
disciplinary actions. Terminations occur nearly 40% of the time.
Question: Based on your company’s existing drug use policies, what disciplinary actions
would be taken for first-time violations of your marijuana use policy?
44%
38%
31%
25%
8%
5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Written warning Termination Verbal warning Drug rehab Employee fine No action taken
14. 4
14
Nearly 90% of companies are somewhat or very interested in
investigating a marijuana breathalyzer in the next 12 months
Overall Level of Interest in a Marijuana Breathalyzer
Question: Based on your understanding of the breathalyzer and the value it could deliver to your company, how
interested do you think your company would be in investigating the breathalyzer in the next 12 months as
described on a scale of 1 -7, where 7 means very interested and 1 means not interested at all?
62%
27%
11%
Very interested (6 - 7)
Somewhat interested (4-5)
Not interested (1-3)
15. Hound Labs is a scientific research and device company that has developed ultra-sensitive
technology for non-invasive breath measurement.
The Company has conducted pioneering research to understand recent marijuana use and how
the duration of THC in breath correlates with the peak window of impairment (up to 3 hours after
smoking) identified by government research groups. The ultra-sensitive and accurate Hound®
marijuana breathalyzer measures marijuana use at levels once only possible with forensic
laboratory equipment and provides objective data to help determine if someone recently smoked
marijuana at the roadside or workplace.
The Hound Labs team believes in the importance of developing tools based on rigorous scientific
research that deliver common sense solutions to the complex issues related to marijuana
impairment. The Company is committed to the mission of balancing public safety with fairness
so lives are saved and rights are protected.
Founded in 2014, Hound Labs (www.houndlabs.com) is headquartered in
Oakland, California and backed by Benchmark.
15
About Hound Labs
