It's the law. If you don't like it, do what you can to change it. However, legal or illegal, it has NO place in an already dangerous profession
What is funny about this is the "students" don't think testing is fair or we shouldn't judge them for what they do on their "own personal" time...I don't really care about your time... its when you get behind the wheel of anything whether it be a car , or an 18/wheeler that bothers me. Because if your not strong enough to keep your self from using pot when your on your time what do you think will stop you from using it after you've had a rough day trucking...And they happen more often than not. No...IMO zero tolerance for pot or any drug user unless pre-approved by a physician and the DOT. The highways and roads of this country belong to all of us...and We as professionals should always be held to the strictest of standards PERIOD....You students out there for the most part understand that , and for the ones that don't agree well...pick another career......
Whether or not the law is just or unjust, right or wrong; it is still the law. If you wanna smoke pot, dont drive. You wanna drive, dont smoke pot. There is no getting around it. This isnt high school, this is the real world. Get caught and you could be fired, fined or JAILED depending on the circumstances. Now on a overall basis, yes it should be legal but not allowed in a safety sensitve jobs. I dont want cops or nuclear powerplant workers to be users either. If you clean pools, work in a coffee shop or the mall have at it. There is a place for it and driving is not it. Clean up if you want to drive...... simple as that. Wanna smoke, find a different career.
Breaking the law is the first step to changing it. Of course, don't be stupid. Don't drive while high Don't smoke at all while you're in the profession (but only that, because they test and testing positive has stiff penalties) It's all bogus, but it's just not worth it to smoke while employed as a driver because testing positive just once screws you over for a loooong time (if not for life)
No Skulll_Leader not ignorance...experience. You must understand when you choose to be a professional driver everything you do as long as you drive for a living impacts your performance...you will live your life on 4 distinct lines! 1. Off duty...your time yes, it it is, up until you decide to have a drink or get smoked-up 4 hours before going ON Duty 2. Sleeper Berth...explains itself you are resting/sleeping in the sleeper of the truck 3. Driving again no explanation needed 4. On Duty Not Driving..anything having to do with either loading, unloading, pre-trip, post-trip inspections, accidents/breakdowns...or anything else that you do pertaining to your job til you are either Off Duty or in the Sleeper Berth....This IS your life...like it or not..... its a fact. No place or room for your selfish wants or desires as far as drug use or abuse goes. That IMO makes it your employers business.... cause he is the one spending tons of money on equipment and insurance for you to be in that equipment.... and your job is to live and act like a professional in AND OUT of the equipment. As far as the government goes those laws that you say are un-fair ...are there for your safety as well as MINE and MY families and any other folks using the highways....
I call.bs on breaking the law is the first step to changing it. Pot has been illegal since what, the 20's. Didnt stop people from using but using didnt make it legal. Murder has been illegal forever, all the murders that take place arent gonna help make that legal. And lets say it does become legal, drivers still wont be able to use as under current testing it will show up for a month after using which will put you under the influence in the eyes of the law. Plus your company could still say no and fire you if you pee dirty even if a breathalizer style test for pot is invented to tell.for when the effects are there and not just the metabolites left over in your pee for the month or so. My dad used to work at a nuclear power plant. They had what was called fit for duty times. A time period (two weeks to a month, groups were rotated so it was always going on) when you couldnt even drink a single beer. The people doing fit for.duty can and would be called WHENEVER, day night weekend holiday, and told to be at the testing sight by a certain time and were given a pee test and a breathalizer. Late to the site, suspension at the minimum. And for a 100k+ a year job, no one was ever late. Blew anything but 0.000 or had something come up in your pee, you were finding another job.
When i got hired back in 2009 with Schneider National...they took a hair sample...at the DOT physical....