Colorado's Marijuana Dilemma

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Colorado was the first state to legalize private consumption of marijuana, however, it is facing a dilemma on whether to modify the labor laws to reflect it as businesses can still fire employees if they test positive for marijuana.

NBC News Correspondent Harry Smith on Monday was on CNBC to discuss the contradictory laws in Colorado regarding pot consumption.

"We concurred an interesting thing," Smith said, "because years ago the state legislature in Colorado passed a law that basically said, anything that’s legal in this state that you do in the privacy of your home should have no effect on your ability to keep or hold on to a job. So, you have laws that are in contradiction in Colorado right now, and that very issue is in the front of the state’s Supreme Court."

Related Link: 15 Marijuana Stocks To Watch In 2015

Shouldn’t All Businesses Test Their Employees For Pot Consumption?

"You know, this is very interesting because this whole notion though of testing -- you can test a person for pot and it stays in your system for 40 days," smith replied. "You can have a guy who was drunk the night before, he comes in the next day, does a breathalyzer and he's clean. So, there is an inequality there among people who are, especially pot advocates, that say, 'I can come to work and have used pot a day ago or two days ago, but I am not high, should I still get fired?'"

On whether Colorado should also change its labor laws now that it has legalized marijuana, Smith said, “This whole thing, Colorado Governor [John] Hickenlooper calls it a giant social experiment and everything that we do when we go out there and do these stories, we are watching things happen a lot for the first time. This is all part of it.”

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Posted In: CNBCMediaCannabisColoradoHarry SmithmarijuanaNBC News
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