Washington, DC — Over 40,000 commercially licensed truck drivers failed federally mandated drug screens for marijuana in 2022, and many did not reapply to return to work, according to statistics compiled by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, a branch of the US Department of Transportation.
Federal law mandates commercially licensed drivers to randomly undergo marijuana urinalysis testing, which detects the presence of the inert carboxy-THC metabolite. The non-psychoactive metabolite is detectable in subjects’ urine for weeks or even months following past exposure. According to a report from the US Department of Justice, the detection of this metabolite “only indicates that a particular substance is present in the test subject’s body tissue. It does not indicate abuse or addiction; recency, frequency, or amount of use; or impairment.”
NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “The Transportation Department’s reliance on this outdated technology and upon these discriminatory policies is out of step with reality and is directly contributing to the trucking shortage crisis.” NORML has long called for the use of performance testing technology, rather than drug detection technology, to determine whether someone may be impaired while at work.
Armentano added: “Suspicionless marijuana testing in the workplace is not now, nor has it ever been, an evidence-based policy. Rather, this discriminatory practice is a holdover from the zeitgeist of the 1980s ‘war on drugs.’ But times have changed; attitudes have changed, and in many places, the marijuana laws have changed. It is time for workplace policies to adapt to this new reality and to cease punishing employees for activities they engage in during their off-hours that pose no workplace safety threat.”
Since 2020, over 100,000 truck drivers have tested positive for past exposure to marijuana. (About 60,000 additional drivers have tested positive for other substances.) Those who fail their test are required to enter a ‘return to work’ program, which includes passing a drug test, in order to have their license reinstated. However, only about one-quarter of those with drug test failures have done so – resulting in driver shortages and supply chain issues.
Last year, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) sent a letter to the Transportation Department calling on the agency to amend policies that penalize commercially licensed drivers who consume cannabis while away from the job. It stated: “[Y]our department’s zero-tolerance policy sweeps up drivers who were unimpaired, drivers who have not used cannabis for weeks or even months, and drivers who have used federally-legal CBD oils. Blanket disqualifications are unjust, unfair, and cause widespread economic and social damage. Thousands of driving positions are unfilled, compounding our supply chain woes. Penalizing safe drivers who comply with state cannabis laws harms both the drivers and the supply chains they support.”
In recent months, lawmakers in several states – including California and New York – have amended their laws so that employers may not terminate workers solely on the basis of a positive drug test for the presence of THC metabolites.
Additional information is available from NORML’s fact-sheet, ‘Marijuana Legalization and Impact on the Workplace.’
NORML advocates for changes in public policy so that the responsible possession and use of marijuana by adults is no longer subject to criminal penalties. NORML further advocates for a regulated commercial cannabis market so that activities involving the for-profit production and retail sale of cannabis and cannabis products are safe, transparent, consumer-friendly, and are subject to state and/or local licensure. Finally, NORML advocates for additional changes in legal and regulatory policies so that those who use marijuana responsibly no longer face either social stigma or workplace discrimination, and so that those with past criminal records for marijuana-related violations have the opportunity to have their records automatically expunged.
Find out more at norml.org and read the NORML Fact Sheets on the most common misconceptions and myths regarding cannabis and cannabis policies.
