Employees are more likely to apply for jobs that offer cannabis care benefits

Employers are finding themselves playing catch-up as a growing number of states have legalized the use of cannabis, but reliable information can be hard to find.

“Finding clinical guidance for medicinal cannabis is difficult, because most doctors lack the knowledge and retail dispensaries are not equipped to provide medical advice,” said Sean Collins, cofounder and CEO of EO Care, a clinically guided cannabis health and wellness solution provider. “As a result, we have tens of millions of Americans using cannabis for health reasons without guidance on specific product recommendations, dosage amounts, possible drug interactions or consideration of their health history and other potential health risks. Given that sales of cannabis for health reasons is far higher than most prescription drugs, this is a highly concerning situation for health care generally.”

A recent survey by the company in states where cannabis is legal found that more than half (56%) of employees would be more likely to apply for jobs at companies that offer cannabis care benefits. Among the other findings:

• In the past year, 18% of respondents have used cannabis for health reasons, 19% have used it for recreational reasons and 14% have used it for both.
• The top three reasons for their cannabis use are anxiety, pain and sleep.
• Nearly 9 in 10 medical cannabis users said it reduced their use of prescription drugs, alcohol or both.
• Slightly more than half said they would be likely or very likely to use cannabis if it were offered by their health plan.
• Two-thirds of respondents said they would feel more comfortable using cannabis if it were screened and dosed by a clinician.
• Forty-four percent would reconsider applying for a job at a company that tested for prior use of cannabis use or prohibited cannabis outside of the workplace.

As a result, employers are considering the benefits of adding cannabis care in the workplace.

“As more people use medicinal cannabis for cancer symptom treatments, chronic pain, sleeplessness and anxiety, employees are recognizing they need clinical guidance to be able to safely dose effectively,” said Brent Bannerman, vice president of EO Care. “Clinicians, including oncologists, are unsure how to advise their patients on cannabis use, leaving patients in a difficult position. EO Care is a key benefit for employees using medicinal cannabis, because the benefit provides a resource for employees to access clinical guidance, care plans and product advice that heretofore was unavailable.”

Related: What employers need to know about “guided use” of cannabis

Ninety-four percent of Americans live in states where cannabis is legal in some form, Collins said, and many have used cannabis in the past year.

“This is definitely impacting employees and health outcomes,” he said. “With the right medicinal cannabis guidance, employers have an opportunity to help their employees, improve health outcomes and be progressive leaders in offering this important benefit that employees will come to expect.”