A recent analysis of employee urine tests determined that a record number tested positive for marijuana, and truckers are beings sidelined for using a recreationally legal substance in 23 states.
Quest Diagnostics medical lab and testing company compiled its annual assessment that showed 2022 reached the highest levels since it started the research in 1998. More than 6 million samples were reviewed, with the exception of federal employees, and 4.3 percent tested pot positive. That figure rose from 3.9 percent in 2021.
“This historic rise seems to correspond with sharp increases in positivity for marijuana in both pre-employment and post-accident drug tests, suggesting that changing societal attitudes about marijuana may be impacting workplace behaviors,” Keith Ward, general manager and vice president for employer solutions at Quest Diagnostics, reportedly stated.
States that legalized marijuana for recreational use saw 5.7 percent of the workforce test positive. In states where it is only legal for medical purposes, the positive test rate hovered around 3.9 percent. Upwards of 38 states allow marijuana use for medical purposes.
It’s also important to note the number of workplace screenings has declined. In 1996, approximately 30 percent of employers tested workers. In 2022, only about 16 percent require drug testing. The trucking industry, by contrast, made a sharp turn in the opposite direction.
Federally mandated drug and alcohol testing continues to be something of a controversy in the trucking industry. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse requires random tests and tasks employers with monitoring truckers. Administrators who witness or suspect drug or alcohol use can require a trucker to take a urine test.
In 2022, 41,000 truckers tested positive for the largely legal substance that can linger in the system for more than a month. That number spiked by 32 percent over 2021 and more than 100,000 CDL holders have been sidelined due to pot positive tests since the Clearinghouse opened in 2000.
Suspensions for marijuana outpace all other substances combined. Rather than freight carriers considering methods that would separate people who show up to work high from those who used it in the past, some are pushing for hair follicle testing. This test would detect marijuana use dating back months. The result would be potentially sidelined even more truckers despite a driver shortage estimated at 80,000.
The latest Clearinghouse report indicates that pot use rose by 9.2 percent through the first three months of 2023. Most suspended truckers have not entered the mandated return-to-work process.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marijuana-workplace-tests-25-year-high-quest/
https://www.ttnews.com/articles/positive-marijuana-tests-among-drivers-grow-alarming-rate
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