Asking a potential employer about their marijuana policy

Question

I’m interviewing for a position in Colorado that has a startup feel. Although marijuana is recreationally legal, how do you go about asking them about their policy regarding it?

Clearly, you can see my my dilemma. I don’t want to come off as a putz that just wants to come to Colorado to smoke reefer and happened to settle with their company. I’m a professional with quite a few years of experience in the technology field.

I do, however, want to enjoy my free time however I choose.

How do I go about it (if at all) finding out the company’s stance on this? Or will it just “come up” further down the interview process?

Answer 1

I would not mention marijuana specifically at all during any interview. When you are talking about the benefits and policies of the organization, you can safely ask about the drug policy. Asking about company policies is a relatively normal part of an interview. Let them describe the policy.

Chances are extremely good that when discussing the company's policy in regards to drugs and drugs use that THEY will bring up Marijuana specifically, simply because it is one of the main topics in Colorado these days.

By doing it this way you shield yourself from any negative (read stoner) connotations which could be (would be by some) assumed by your interviewer.

In my opinion, if you bring up marijuana use yourself, that would be an immediate negative you'll have to try to overcome.

Answer 2

What do you expect the companies stance on it to be? If it's legal, they can hardly tell you to not take it in your free time. The implied drug policy for workplaces is don't take any at work or appear under the influence of any at work. That goes for any drug, even perfectly legal ones like alcohol.

So whatever answer you get, asking this question will probably reflect badly on you. Were you fine with the implied policy of "don't do any on company time", you would not be asking. So as an employer, I would have to assume you are asking permission to take drugs at work.

Edit:

After reading the link, it seems you left out a few details in your description of it being "legal". It seems the use is only partly legal in Colorado. State laws allow it, federal laws do not. Strictly speaking, you are still breaking federal law. The good point is, as it obviously was debated recently, you can ask for their opinion on it quite openly. I would not, however, ask for recreational use. Ask for medical use first and hope their whole policy will be explained:

"I recently read an article where someone was fired for medical use of marijuana. In case of medical problems, I trust my doctor to prescribe the drugs that help me best, but I don't want to get into trouble with the company either. What's your policy here?"

Answer 3

I cannot think of any reasonable way to ask this during the job interview process without it looking bad.

I would suggest taking a back channel approach instead. Can you find a friend of a friend who does or has very recently worked for the company via Linked In or other means, and have your friend ask their friend for you? Or possibly use Google or Glassdoor to search the company's name + marijuana policy? If it's a very young company you might not find anything that way, but hopefully you can just find someone who knows someone...

If you must ask in the interview, you could try something along the lines of "does the company have any policies restricting what employees do during their non-working hours?" I think they will probably still guess what you're getting at, but it's a bit more neutral.

Answer 4

Usually I take the "ask everything so people can get to understand themselves" approach, but this is one of the times I won't.

You said in a comment

It's pretty important to me, but I won't risk not feeding my family so I can get high. I'll put it his way; if another opportunity came up that did promote that policy, I would certainly take it

So, as far as you do not have other offers, you are willing to submit to the company policies (whatever they are). So, it really does not matter to you for accept their offer, so you really do not need to ask (be sure to check with HR after you are hired, though).

In the other point, if the company (or personally the interviewers) have extreme prejudice against marijuana smoking, asking this question will signal you as a marijuana consumer, which will hurt your prospects. Even if you are willing to leave it for the sake of getting the job, some "collateral damage" will probably stay.

So:

• Advantages of asking beforehand: None.
• Risks of asking beforehand: Unknown, possibly some.

Just don't ask anything and check with HR if you are hired. If their policy is restrictive and you get another job interview, then asking may lead to some advantages to you.

Answer 5

How do I go about it (if at all) finding out the company’s stance on this? Or will it just “come up” further down the interview process?

During the interviews, you must determine all the important aspects of the job in order to make the decision that is best for you.

If using marijuana is important enough to you, then you must determine if that will be a problem before accepting a job offer.

In light of the new laws, I suspect any Colorado company that now had a policy prohibiting marijuana use would make that clear to all candidates up front. Companies don't want confusion during the hiring process. But perhaps that isn't always happening.

When I interview at a company, I try to talk with my potential manager, my potential peers, and all of the people who will be working for me, as much as possible. Doing this gives me a wider source of opinions about the company, the culture etc.

In your case, if the issue isn't freely offered by HR or your potential manager, you may wish to ask a peer or someone who would work for you.

The worst outcome would be to ask nothing, then find out the policies don't meet with your personal needs after starting your job.

Answer 6

Simple: don't ask don't tell.

I've worked in a lot of "buttoned up" places (a federal agency, a major newspaper, a premium retailer).

The only place that that officially drug tested was the federal agency. Most places honestly don't give a shit if you do it or not. In the federal agency, after the initial drug test, they NEVER issued another one. Many of my coworkers smoked up.

My advice is, if they don't drug screen you at the beginning, then it's 99% safe to smoke. Just don't mention you smoke during interview. If it comes up later organically (another coworker brings it up) awesome!

If they drug test, wait a little, get to know your coworkers, find somebody you trust/hangout out with, and ask them. They won't rat on you (except in a very very rare case that they're a psychopath after your job. Even then it's hearsay and they look bad for "tattling") Or let it come up organically (they bring it up). This article explains pretty well how (most) employers feel about MJ use FBI's "Stance"

Answer 7

If you are applying for a position that you know has other candidates, then the safest way is to get a friend to pretend to be a potential candidate and have him contact human resources on speakerphone (from his own phone).

That way, you get all the details, with none of the drawbacks!