PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As more states legalize recreational use of marijuana, related issues come to the forefront that need to be handled in the legislation.

Such is the case with Senate Bill 379, which would make it illegal for employers to require their workers not use marijuana on their off-hours.

Oregon lawmakers heard testimony Thursday from those in favor, like Anthony Taylor of Compassionate Oregon, and those opposed, like Rich Angstrom of the Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers.

Angstrom told the Senate Judiciary Committee the bill amounts to lowering the bar when it comes to workplace safety.

He said big rigs hauling his members’ concrete to job sites have to have drivers.

“The THC, the product, the active ingredient in marijuana stays in your system beyond the impairment time frame, and so we can’t take the risk,” Angstrom said.

Read more about Senate Bill 379

Rich Angstrom of the Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers, February 7, 2019 (KOIN)

Angstrom and others representing many employers in Oregon say that casual pot use when you’re off work isn’t an issue — but having someone with THC in their system even after the impairment of being high wears off is still too big of a risk.

But cannabis advocates say if problems like the one described by concrete truck companies were as dangerous as advertised the public would already know about it.

Cannabis use, they say, is similar in many ways to having a drink or a couple beers away from work. The only difference, Taylor said, is that THC stays in your system long after the actual impairment is over.

Anthony Taylor of Compassionate Oregon, February 7, 2019 (KOIN)

“We don’t want people flying the planes, driving the semis, operating the excavators under the influence,” Taylor said, “but we’ve come through this with ‘Driving under the Influence’ and a number of state supreme courts like Arizona have ruled that use doesn’t prove impairment.”

SB 379 does provide exceptions. It allows employers to maintain no use as a condition of employment for what it describes as “bona fide occupational requirements.”

This is early in the process. KOIN 6 News will follow the bill through the legislature.