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by chimeracoder 813 days ago
> This tiny detail makes the difference why employer-mandated drug tests are not a thing in Germany like it is in the US.

It doesn't explain the difference, no, since the same is true about the US. In most states, consumption of most drugs is not a crime - possession, production, distribution, sale, and trafficking are the actual crimes prosecuted.
3 comments
basch 813 days ago
Nearly any amount of intoxication is vaguely illegal under disorderly conduct. It’s a catch all they can apply whenever. Fighting it and winning still costs time and money.

So sure, the act of consuming might be legal, but having consumed isn’t.

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gruez 813 days ago
>Nearly any amount of intoxication is vaguely illegal under disorderly conduct.

Isn't that limited to public spaces? If you're getting high in private you should be fine?

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falcor84 813 days ago
As I understand it, the issue is only about showing up to work with any level of drugs in your system, even if there aren't any actual signs of you being intoxicated.
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Wytwwww 813 days ago
But that's just a policy some companies have, it has nothing to do with legality.
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chimeracoder 813 days ago
> Nearly any amount of intoxication is vaguely illegal under disorderly conduct. It’s a catch all they can apply whenever. Fighting it and winning still costs time and money.

This is a weak argument. Almost nobody is getting prosecuted for "disorderly conduct" when under the influence of marijuana as a proxy for marijuana consumption. And even if they were, the connection between that and employer drug tests is extremely tenuous.

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AngryData 813 days ago
Unless you drive a car or own a gun in the US, then if you do get a bad drug test result you can easily get charged with a crime. It is not likely to get drug tested in relation to having a gun, but anywhere pushing DUI enforcement is going to be drug testing significant samples of random people and charging people who may have smoked long ago and had all side effects completely subsided but still charged with a DUI offense. You can get active THC in a blood sample up to 3 days after smoking despite the effects lasting hours at best and levels not increasing or decreasing linearly with consumption. And of course metabolites for cannabis can go back up to an entire month.
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chimeracoder 813 days ago
> Unless you drive a car or own a gun in the US, then if you do get a bad drug test result you can easily get charged with a crime.

The likelihood of getting charged with a drug-related crime for testing positive for drugs on an employer-mandated drug test, which is the context being discussed, is absolutely minuscule.

You may get fired, but your employer isn't going to refer you to local prosecution, and the prosecution wouldn't take it if they did.

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The_Colonel 813 days ago
Not sure about Germany, but even possession (of small quantities) is decriminalized in many European countries.
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chimeracoder 813 days ago
> Not sure about Germany

The title of this post is " Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany".

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The_Colonel 813 days ago
Well, obviously. What I meant was "Not sure about how it was before today in Germany". The effects of today's changes are not yet clear.
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