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A bill in the Oregon Senate would bar employers from testing their employees for off-the-clock marijuana use.

would make it an illegal employment practice to require employees to not use 鈥渟ubstances that (are) lawful to use under the laws of this state.鈥�

The bill was forwarded by the Joint Interim Committee on Marijuana Legalization, and is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The state currently bars employers from testing employees for lawful tobacco products.

Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana use when they approved Measure 91 in 2014, but the law did not affect existing employment law.

Construction industry groups have traditionally opposed similar efforts. Contractors questioned in a phone poll felt the same.

鈥淭hat’s a bad idea,鈥� said John LaBarge, CEO of Oregon Demolition. 鈥淚t’s simple and straightforward: I don’t care if people smoke marijuana. I do care if people smoke marijuana and come work for me 鈥� I can’t have an employee high on marijuana operating a 30,000-pound excavator, with slowed reaction time. That could kill somebody.鈥�

Todd Duwe, vice president for business development for Andersen Construction, said the company was against the bill.

鈥淲e’re against anything with the slightest chance of affecting worker safety,鈥� he said.

Jim Link, general manager of Skanska‘s Portland office, said the company employs a third party to administer random screenings for marijuana and other substances.

鈥淲e continue to test for any drug or alcohol that may affect an employee’s performance, myself included. And we have no plans to give that up,鈥� he said.

A spokesman for the national Associated General Contractors said he hadn’t heard of a similar bill in any other state.