With a bill signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state becomes the 7th in the US to provide protections for workers who use marijuana when not on the clock.

The bill joins several others that are intended to expand the legal market in California and unroll damage caused by past bans.

Newsom said of the new law, “For too many Californians, the promise of cannabis legalization remains out of reach. These measures build on the important strides our state has made toward this goal, but much work remains to build an equitable, safe and sustainable legal cannabis industry. I look forward to partnering with the Legislature and policymakers to fully realize cannabis legalization in communities across California.”

The bill, AB 2188, “protects workers from employment discrimination based on their use of cannabis while off-the-clock.”

It addresses the fact that when someone uses marijuana, traces of THC remain detectable in drug samples for a significantly longer time than the drug actually affects one’s mental state.

Workers across the US have alleged that they’ve been fired for using marijuana the day before clocking in for work, simply because the compound is still detectable, and the new California law protects them from exactly that.

9 additional bills joined 2188 in expanding protection for marijuana users and leveling the playing field in California after former laws caused undue hardship on legal users.