Workers' Compensation Cannabis Amendments

3
34A-2-302
0
Workers' Compensation Cannabis Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Walt Brooks
Senate Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions related to workers' compensation and cannabis use.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
creates a rebuttal presumption regarding cannabis use that would reduce a workers'
compensation award under certain circumstances; and
amends provisions related to testing for cannabinoids.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
34A-2-302
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 352
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
34A-2-302
is amended to read:
34A-2-302
. Employee's willful misconduct -- Penalty.
(1)
For purposes of this section:
(a)
"Controlled substance" is as defined in Section
58-37-2
.
(b)
"Local government employee" is as defined in Section
34-41-101
.
(c)
"Local governmental entity" is as defined in Section
34-41-101
.
(d)
"State institution of higher education" is as defined in Section
34-41-101
.
(e)
"THC" means the same as that term is defined in Section
4-41-102
.
(f)
(i)
"THC analog" means a substance that is structurally or pharmacologically
substantially similar to, or is represented as being similar to, delta-9-THC.
(ii)
"THC analog" does not include the following substances or the naturally
occurring acid forms of the following substances:
(A)
cannabichromene (CBC), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 20675-51-8;
(B)
cannabicyclol (CBL), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 21366-63-2;
(C)
cannabidiol (CBD), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 13956-29-1;
(D)
cannabidivarol (CBDV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 24274-48-4;
(E)
cannabielsoin (CBE), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 52025-76-0;
(F)
cannabigerol (CBG), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 25654-31-3;
(G)
cannabigerovarin (CBGV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 55824-11-8;
(H)
cannabinol (CBN), the cannabinoid identified as CAS#
521-35-7
;
(I)
cannabivarin (CBV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 33745-21-0;
(J)
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS#
31262-37-0; or
(K)
a non-intoxicating metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol, including
11-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.
(e)
(g)
"Valid prescription" is a prescription, as defined in Section
58-37-2
, that:
(i)
is prescribed for a controlled substance for use by the employee for whom it was
prescribed; and
(ii)
has not been altered or forged.
(2)
An employee may not:
(a)
remove, displace, damage, destroy, or carry away any safety device or safeguard
provided for use in any employment or place of employment;
(b)
interfere in any way with the use of a safety device or safeguard described in
Subsection
(2)(a)
by any other person;
(c)
interfere with the use of any method or process adopted for the protection of any
employee in the employer's employment or place of employment; or
(d)
fail or neglect to follow and obey orders and to do every other thing reasonably
necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of employees.
(3)
(a)
Except in case of injury resulting in death:
(a)
(i)
compensation provided for by this chapter shall be reduced 15% when injury
is caused by the willful failure of the employee:
(i)
(A)
to use safety devices when provided by the employer; or
(ii)
(B)
to obey any order or reasonable rule adopted by the employer for the
safety of the employee
; and
.
(b)
except
Except
when the employer permitted, encouraged, or had actual knowledge
of the conduct described in Subsection
(4)
:
(i)
disability compensation may not be awarded under this chapter or Chapter 3, Utah
Occupational Disease Act, to an employee when the major contributing cause of
the employee's injury is the employee's conduct described in Subsection
(4)
; or
(ii)
disability compensation to an employee under this chapter or Chapter 3, Utah
Occupational Disease Act, shall be reduced by 15% when the employee's conduct
is a contributing cause of the employee's injury but not the major contributing
cause.
(4)
The conduct described in Subsection
(3)(b)
is the employee's:
(a)
knowing use of a controlled substance that the employee did not obtain under a valid
prescription;
(b)
intentional abuse of a controlled substance that the employee obtained under a valid
prescription if the employee uses the controlled substance intentionally:
(i)
in excess of prescribed therapeutic amounts; or
(ii)
in an otherwise abusive manner; or
(c)
intoxication from alcohol with a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .05 grams
or greater as shown by a chemical test
.
; or
(d)
notwithstanding any other provision of this Subsection
(4)
, intoxication from THC or
a THC analog with a whole blood level of THC or THC analog in excess of 20
nanograms/ml.
(5)
(a)
For purposes of Subsections
(3)
and
(4)
, as shown by a chemical test that
conforms to scientifically accepted analytical methods and procedures and includes
verification or confirmation of any positive test result by gas chromatography, gas
chromatography-mass spectroscopy, or other comparably reliable analytical method,
before the result of the test may be used as a basis for the presumption, it is presumed
that the major contributing cause of the employee's injury is the employee's conduct
described in Subsection
(4)
if at the time of the injury:
(i)
the employee has in the employee's system:
(A)
any amount of a controlled substance or its metabolites if the employee did
not obtain the controlled substance under a valid prescription; or
(B)
a controlled substance the employee obtained under a valid prescription or the
metabolites of the controlled substance if the amount in the employee's system
is consistent with the employee using the controlled substance intentionally:
(I)
in excess of prescribed therapeutic amounts; or
(II)
in an otherwise abusive manner; or
(ii)
the employee has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .05 grams or greater
.
;
or
(iii)
notwithstanding any other provision of this Subsection
(5)(a)
, the employee has a
concentration of THC or THC analog in whole blood that exceeds 20
nanograms/ml.
(b)
The presumption created under Subsection
(5)(a)
may be rebutted by a
preponderance of the evidence showing that:
(i)
the chemical test creating the presumption is inaccurate because the employer
failed to comply with:
(A)
Sections
34-38-4
through
34-38-6
; or
(B)
if the employer is a local governmental entity or state institution of higher
education, Section
34-41-104
, Subsection
34-41-103(7)
, or, if applicable,
Subsection
34-41-103(6)
;
(ii)
the employee did not engage in the conduct described in Subsection
(4)
;
(iii)
the test results do not exclude the possibility of passive inhalation of marijuana
because the concentration of total
urinary cannabinoids
THC or THC analog in
whole blood
is less than
50
20
nanograms/ml as determined by a
blood
test
conducted in accordance with:
(A)
Subsection
(8)
; and
(B)
(I)
Sections
34-38-4
through
34-38-6
; or
(B)
(II)
if the employer is a local governmental entity or state institution of
higher education, Section
34-41-104
, Subsection 34-41-103(7), or, if
applicable, Subsection 34-41-103(6)
;
(iv)
a competent medical opinion from a physician verifies that the amount of
controlled substances, metabolites, or alcohol in the employee's system does not
support a finding that the conduct described in Subsection
(4)
was the major
contributing cause of the employee's injury or a contributing cause of the
employee's injury;
or
(v)
(A)
the conduct described in Subsection
(4)
was not a contributing cause of
the employee's injury; or
(B)
(vi)
the employee's mental and physical condition were not impaired at the time
of the injury.
(c)
(i)
Except as provided in Subsections
(5)(c)(ii)
and
(iii)
, if a chemical test that
creates the presumption under Subsection
(5)(a)
is taken at the request of the
employer, the employer shall comply with:
(A)
Title 34, Chapter 38, Drug and Alcohol Testing; or
(B)
if the employee is a local governmental employee or an employee of a state
institution of higher education, Title 34, Chapter 41, Local Governmental
Entity Drug-Free Workplace Policies.
(ii)
Notwithstanding Section
34-38-13
, the results of a test taken under Title 34,
Chapter 38, Drug and Alcohol Testing, may be disclosed to the extent necessary
to establish or rebut the presumption created under Subsection
(5)(a)
.
(iii)
Notwithstanding Section
34-41-103
, the results of a test taken under Title 34,
Chapter 41, Local Governmental Entity Drug-Free Workplace Policies, may be
disclosed to the extent necessary to establish or rebut the presumption created
under Subsection
(5)(a)
.
(6)
(a)
A test sample taken pursuant to this section shall be taken as a split sample.
(b)
One part of the sample is to be used by the employer for testing pursuant to
Subsection
(5)(a)
:
(i)
at a testing facility selected by the employer; and
(ii)
at the employer's or the employer's workers' compensation carrier's expense.
(c)
The testing facility selected under Subsection
(6)(b)
shall hold the part of the sample
not used under Subsection
(6)(b)
until the sooner of:
(i)
six months from the date of the original test; or
(ii)
when the employee requests that the sample be tested.
(d)
The employee has only six months from the date of the original test to have the
remaining sample tested:
(i)
at the employee's expense; and
(ii)
at the testing facility selected by the employee, except that the test shall meet the
requirements of Subsection
(5)(a)
.
(7)
If any provision of this section, or the application of any provision of this section to any
person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this section shall be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.
(8)
When testing for a cannabinoid under this section a blood test shall be used.
Section 2.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
1-19-26 12:27 PM