"For the avoidance of doubt, employees should be aware that the town considers marijuana to be illegal," Ludlow Human Resources Manager Carrie Ribeiro told selectmen at the board's meeting on Feb. 7, quoting from the town's updated personnel policy manual.
LUDLOW -- As more Massachusetts municipalities become mired in the marijuana gray zone -- a murky realm where recreational use and retail sale of the drug is legal in some states but illegal under federal law -- more discussions are being held about how to enforce local pot policies.
In Ludlow, it's a no-brainer: Marijuana is a proscribed substance.
"For the avoidance of doubt, employees should be aware that the town considers marijuana to be illegal," Ludlow Human Resources Manager Carrie Ribeiro told selectmen at their Feb. 7 meeting, quoting from the town's updated personnel policy manual.
Changes to the manual were based on discussions with town counsel and the outcome of a town-commissioned HR audit by the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston, according to Ribeiro, who summarized highlights for selectmen.
Ludlow is among the many commonwealth communities considering a moratorium on retail marijuana now that recreational pot is legal in Massachusetts. The town will comply with the new state law, but it will also continue to enforce its personnel policy, according to officials.
"I've been working with legal for quite some time now," Ribeiro said, adding that the policy manual had to be updated and revised due to changes in pot's legal status at the state level.
Ludlow combined its own alcohol and drug-use policies for town employees with the policies of the federal Drug Free Workplace Act to show that the town is taking a proactive approach, "especially with all the recent changes with the legalization of marijuana," Ribeiro said.
The town, as a public employer, remains intolerant of on-the-job drug or alcohol use by its personnel, and the legalization of recreational pot won't change that. "Obviously you can't come to work under the influence," Ribeiro said.
Drug testing is required for all new hires, after accidents involving town workers, and in cases of "reasonable suspicion" of drug use by an employee, said Ribeiro, adding that follow-up testing may also be required for policy breaches.
"So if anybody was to get into an accident -- a vehicle accident, equipment accident, or whatever the case may be -- they would go for testing," she said.
Ludlow, like other municipalities across the state, will likely have to revisit its pot policy as state lawmakers continue to tinker with the voter-approved ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana in Massachusetts.
"With this being such a new law, there's not a lot of case law or any studies that have really been done on this at this point because it's so brand new," Ribeiro said.
"I think as things like this come down the pipeline and cities and towns -- or employees in general -- have to deal with this kind of thing, that we may have some other instances that we can look at to write policies and update in the future," she said. "But I think for now, this is the guideline that legal said we should follow."