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Amazon To Stop Testing Jobseekers For Cannabis

NEW YORK (AP/KDKA) — Amazon said Tuesday that it will stop testing jobseekers for marijuana.

The company, the second-largest private employer in the U.S. behind Walmart, is making the change as states legalize cannabis or introduce laws banning employers from testing for it.

In March, a New York man sued Amazon, saying the company rescinded his job offer at an Amazon warehouse because he tested positive for marijuana, even though the city banned employers from testing job applicants for cannabis in 2020.

Amazon said in a blog post that it will still test workers for other drugs and conduct "impairment checks" on the job. And the company said some roles may still require a cannabis test in line with Department of Transportation regulations.

Amazon has a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Findlay Township, and the online retail giant is looking at building a similar facility on the abandoned 133-acre Westinghouse Research Complex off the Parkway East in Churchill, a move that has been met with protest from residents.

Seattle-based Amazon also said Tuesday that it will support the federal legalization of marijuana by pushing lawmakers to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021.

(TM and © Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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