KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Applicants for jobs with the Kansas City, Missouri, government might not be required to take a pre-employment marijuana test.
KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced an ordinance on Thursday that would eliminate the test, except for positions within police/law enforcement, those that require a commercial driver’s license, supervision or care of children/medical patients “or any other positions impacting public health or safety,” according to a news release.
“Kansas City government should not freeze qualified individuals out from government jobs due to marijuana usage, especially with medicinal marijuana legalized in Missouri and recreational marijuana legalized in surrounding states,” Lucas said in the release.
Eliminating pre-employment marijuana testing, according to Lucas, is “one of several common-sense steps” to make the city’s employment process more inclusive.
Lucas announced in February 2020 that the city would pardon municipal violations for marijuana possession.
And in 2017, voters approved the partial decriminalization of marijuana possession, which imposed fines up to $50. A proposed ordinance introduced last year attempted to remove the fines as well.
