As the legal landscape around cannabis continues to evolve, outdated federal policies are causing significant disruptions in the commercial trucking industry. Tens of thousands of truckers are leaving their jobs due to antiquated marijuana testing regulations, leading to supply chain shortages and increased prices for essential goods.
At issue are federal regulations adopted in 1988 mandating all federally contracted workers to refrain from the use of certain controlled substances, including cannabis. Despite most states legalizing cannabis in some form, neither Congress nor federal regulators have revisited the marijuana-specific provisions of the Drug-Free Workplace Act.
Truckers are subjected to random urinalysis screenings for cannabis use, but these tests are flawed. They detect inactive byproducts of cannabis, not impairment, leading to false positives and unfair consequences for drivers. As a result, over 139,000 truckers have tested positive since 2020, leading many to leave the industry.
Since 2020, more than 150,000 licensed drivers have left the profession due to zero-tolerance workplace drug testing policies. Many drivers are refusing to reapply for work, while others are skipping their tests altogether. This exodus of workers is contributing to supply chain shortages and higher prices for goods.
A change in these discriminatory and counterproductive marijuana drug testing policies is long overdue. These outdated regulations are a relic of the 1980s drug war zeitgeist and do not reflect the current legal and cultural landscape surrounding cannabis.
Several state governments and major corporations have already amended their rules to accommodate changing attitudes towards cannabis. It’s time for the federal government to follow suit and update its regulations accordingly.
Performance testing technologies like DRUID and Alert Meter are now available for employers who wish to assess whether their employees are actually impaired while on the job. These tools provide a more accurate measure of impairment than traditional urine tests.
In conclusion, it’s high time that the federal government updates its antiquated marijuana testing regulations in line with cannabis’s changing legal status. Failure to do so will continue to drive skilled workers out of the trucking industry, exacerbating supply chain shortages and impacting the economy.
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