The American Trucking Associations (ATA) says it’s “deeply concerned” about the potential impact of federal marijuana rescheduling on drug testing programs for drivers—and it’s asking the secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT) for clarity around the policy change.
Dan Horvath was the chief operating office of ATA and wrote a letter on Thursday to DOT secretary Sean Duffy. The industry group asked for “information as to whether the DOT retains the authority to conduct tests to determine if commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), drivers, and other transportation workers who are safety-sensitive have used marijuana if cannabis moves from Schedule I (CSA) to Schedule III (CSA).
This policy is not yet in place. And while President Donald Trump said recently he’ll be making a decision on the pending proposal within weeks—after endorsing the reform on the campaign trail last year—it remains to be seen whether he intends to follow through on rescheduling.
Horvath stated that ATA “does not hold a position in formal terms on legalization of marijuana or its deregulation,” however, “we are very concerned with the risks associated with rescheduling cannabis without safeguards explicitly protecting the testing authority for DOT-regulated workers who have safety-sensitive jobs and the technical requirements.”
Concerns are raised by the removal of federal mandatory drug testing under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. DOT is currently required to follow these guidelines if cannabis was moved from Schedule I to III.
“If so, without clear measures to ensure DOT’s program retains–and is equipped to execute–marijuana testing authority, such a federal policy shift could have serious consequences for highway safety and the integrity of the national transportation network,” the letter says. This risk is further exacerbated because there are currently no widely-accepted standards to measure marijuana impairment on the roadside, or even before drivers begin driving, which makes it more difficult to stop impaired driving.
Horvath’s comments were based on data on drivers testing positive for THC, and studies that showed an increased number of traffic deaths following the legalization of marijuana at state level.
“ATA has repeatedly conveyed these concerns—and our request for clarity on potential impacts to the DOT testing program—to the Department under the previous administration, both through formal letters and in-person discussions,” he wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Transportation Topics.
Horvath noted also that, while the former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said to a congressional panel last year that rescheduling would not impact drug-testing regulations, ATA never received a reply to its correspondence explaining this position and detailing how DOT planned to address any potential impacts to the program.
We are requesting clarification on DOT plans in light of the increased public interest and possible federal rescheduling marijuana. We urge DOT also to coordinate with HHS. [the Department of Justice]. and the relevant legislators to ensure that any shift in federal policy preserves authority, tools and technical capability necessary to continue to test DOT-regulated workers who are safety sensitive.”
Meanwhile, a policy paper from a pair of companies in the trucking industry that was released in April says the sector was short about 80,000 drivers last year—an issue it asserts was exacerbated by workers testing positive for marijuana under DOT’s strict, zero-tolerance drug policy.
Moving marijuana to Schedule III “could have significant implications for DOT regulations and drug testing protocols,” the paper says—for example, by acknowledging legitimate medical use and potentially reducing social stigma—but it wouldn’t necessarily ease restrictions.
The report states that DOT programs use urine testing as a standard, but that testing of saliva or hair follicles is superior. This report notes there are “no widespread tests to detect if drivers have been under the influences of drugs like THC.”
Department of Health and Human Services finalized new test policies for 2023 that allow saliva-based drug tests as an alternate to urine-based testing. In late 2018, critics complained that, despite the fact the federal government had finalized the test rule more than one year and half ago, they still did not have the necessary infrastructure in place to use the new procedure.
In March, members of Congress heard testimony from truckers who called for a wider adoption of hair-follicle test in the sector. In contrast, the chair of NTSB recommended improved education for drivers.
In April, meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a trucker who sued a cannabis company after he was fired over a positive THC test that he said was caused by consuming a hemp-derived CBD product.
A Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration official (SAMHSA), however, downplayed the criticism of a CEO from a company which tests for drugs using saliva. The CEO said that truckers will have near impunity if they use marijuana and avoid drug testing.
The transportation industry also advised Congress in January that if marijuana is federally rescheduled, businesses want assurances that they won’t have to forgo zero-tolerance drug policies for drivers—while stressing that a key problem for the sector is a lack of technology to detect impaired driving.
In a 2023 report on a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies bill, the House Appropriations Committee stated that it “continues support development of an object standard to measure cannabis impairment and related field sobriety tests to ensure highway security.”
A year earlier Sen. John Hickenlooper (D) of Colorado sent a letter to the DOT seeking an update on that status of a federal report into research barriers that are inhibiting the development of a standardized test for marijuana impairment on the roads. The department was required to complete the report under a large-scale infrastructure bill signed by then-President Joe Biden, but it missed its reporting deadline.
The National Transportation Safety Board warned last year that rescheduling marijuana could lead to a blind spot in drug testing for federally-regulated employees who work in positions of safety.
At a House committee hearing, then-DOT Secretary Buttigieg had referenced concerns from ATA “about the broad public health and safety consequences of reclassification on the national highway system and its users,” which the trucking association voiced in a letter to the secretary.
Drug testing is a requirement of federal law for commercial drivers. This includes pre-employment drug tests, random screenings, and other forms.
In June 2022, meanwhile, an ATRI survey of licensed U.S. truck drivers found that 72.4 percent supported “loosening” cannabis laws and testing policies. A further 66.5 per cent said marijuana should be legalized federally.
Cannabis reform advocates, meanwhile, have also called on federal officials to change what they call “discriminatory” drug testing practices around the trucking industry.
A top Wells Fargo analyst said in 2022 that there’s one main reason for rising costs and worker shortages in the transportation sector: federal marijuana criminalization and resulting drug testing mandates that persist even as more states enact legalization.
Then-Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) sent a letter to the head of DOT in 2022, emphasizing that the agency’s policies on drug testing truckers and other commercial drivers for marijuana are unnecessarily costing people their jobs and contributing to supply chain issues.
ATRI’s 2022 report stated that the current research on the effects of marijuana use and driving safety was mixed. This made it difficult to make rules about the subject. A separate 2019 report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) similarly found that evidence about cannabis’s ability to impair driving is inconclusive.
Please read ATA’s letter below on drug testing and marijuana rescheduling.