Dave Warden, a bud tender at Private Organic Therapy (P.O.T.), a non-profit co-operative medical marijuana dispensary, displays various types of marijuana available to patients on October 19, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Attorney General Eric Holder announced new guidelines today for federal prosecutors in states where the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is allowed […]

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CARSON CITY, Nev. — Starting in 2020, Nevada employers cannot refuse to hire a job applicant for failing a marijuana screening test, making it the first state to pass such a law.

“It is unlawful for any employer in this State to fail or refuse to hire a prospective employee because the prospective employee submitted to a screening test and the results of the screening test indicate the presence of marijuana,” states the law, signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak last week.

There are some exceptions. The law does not apply to firefighters, EMTs, employees who operate a motor vehicle or those who, in the determination of the employer, could adversely affect others’ safety.

If an employer requires a new hire to take a screening test, then the new employee has the right to submit to an additional screening test to rebut the results, the law states. The employer must accept that follow-up test, the law says.

The law takes effect at the start of 2020.

Nevada is the first state to approve such a law regarding drug screening tests.

In 2016, voters in the state approved the legal sale of recreational marijuana to adults 21 and older, and recreational marijuana sales began a year later.

The New York City Council passed a similar bill in April that banned employers from requiring a prospective employee to pass a marijuana screening test as a condition of employment.

In Maine, which legalized recreational marijuana, employers are not allowed to discriminate based on marijuana usage, but there are no laws about drug testing.