“Those who consume alcohol legally and responsibly while away from their jobs do not suffer sanctions from their employers unless their work performance is adversely impacted. Those who legally consume cannabis should be held to a similar workplace standards.”
The survey’s authors acknowledged that existing federal testing regulations are contributing to significant numbers of truck drivers leaving the industry while also dissuading new workers from entering it.
Under the new statewide policy, which takes effect on Sunday, October 1st, most public employees will no longer be required to undergo pre-employment marijuana testing.
Those who consume alcohol legally and responsibly while away from their jobs aren’t punished by their employers unless their work performance is adversely impacted. Those who legally consume cannabis should be held to a similar standard.
Washington joins a growing number of jurisdictions that have passed legislation limiting employers’ ability to pre-screen applicants for past marijuana use.
“This is a victory against discrimination toward people who use cannabis,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Karen Keiser. “For people using a legal substance — many of them for medical reasons — locking them out of jobs based on a pre-employment test is just plain unfair, and we are putting a stop to it.”
According to the report, over 10,000 drivers tested positive for past cannabis exposure between January 1 and April 1, 2022. That figure is a 33 percent increase over the year before.
“Suspicionless workplace drug testing policies for cannabis are relics of the failed ‘war on drugs’ policies of the 1980s and it is time that we move beyond them.”