by A. Parsons for TheTruckersReport.com
Commercial drivers must still meet DOT drug testing standards for marijuana, despite the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent change to guidelines on prosecuting medicinal use of that substance.
DOJ’s new stand aims to redirect limited federal resources from prosecuting state-legalized use of marijuana under a doctor’s care, to pursuing more “significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana,” stated deputy attorney general David W. Ogden in an Oct. 19 memo to selected federal attorneys.
It does not change a driver’s responsibility for testing clean of prohibited substances, according to the DOT’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC).
The DOJ change in policy differentiates between those using or providing the drug in “clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana,” such as patients diagnosed with cancer or other serious illnesses and those caregivers who provide the substance to such individuals.
This policy shift does not supercede drug testing requirements for the estimated 12.1 workers who are subject to DOT regulations, including truckers. says ODAPC director, Jim L. Swart.
Trucker drivers, along with pilots, bus drivers and others in occupations governed by the department’s drug-use regulations, are still required to meet drug testing standards, Swart said in an Oct. 22 notice, written in response to the “several inquiries” received after the DOJ memo. DOT’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulation, 49 CFR Part 40.151(e), prohibits company medical review officers (MROs) from verifying a driver’s positive test as negative, regardless if the drug use is based on doctor’s recommendation of a Schedule I controlled substance.
“It remains unacceptable for any safety-sensitive employee subject to drug testing under the Department of Transportation’s drug testing regulations to use marijuana,” Swart said.
Sources:
U.S. Department of Justice: http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192
U.S. Department of Transportation: http://www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/
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