The United States has recently put new drug laws into place, becoming more lenient in what is allowed on both a federal and state level and to what degree. Each state has a different most-used drug, meaning that from coast to coast, drug use is highly specialized to the state in which it occurs. As these new pieces of legislation begin to take effect, it is important to ensure that similar policies are put into place to protect citizens and mitigate potential risks from drug legalization. Some of these laws are related to employee drug testing, protecting our most vulnerable workers from dangerous situations while on the job. Much like drug laws are under the jurisdiction of the states, as are employee drug testing laws. Although federal employees are all covered by the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, private employee coverage varies on a state-by-state basis.
Currently, there are only 5 US states where employee drug testing is considered legal: Montana, South Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The majority of the states consider it legal with caveats, however, 11 states have no laws regulating employee drug testing at all. In 2024, more than 500 bills related to drug testing were introduced, showing just how rapidly drug testing laws are changing. These efforts are working towards the standardization of drug testing in the workplace across the United States. In order to understand the need for drug testing in the US, it is important to acknowledge the role that legal marijuana use has played in the uptick in drug use in recent years.
In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to make progress towards the legalization of marijuana in the United States. These states legalized the substance for recreational use and have since inspired 19 more states and DC to follow suit. As of 2024, the majority of US states have also legalized the substance for medical use. Because of this more lax treatment of the substance, positive marijuana tests have increased by 45.2% over the past 5 years. Although the legalization of marijuana has liberated many users, experts warn that this uptick could have serious implications for safety-sensitive industries. In fact, research has shown that recreational marijuana laws are associated with a 10% increase in workplace injuries for young professionals. In order to mitigate these risks and keep our workforce safe, many state and industry leaders are using this research to guide drug testing programs and a crackdown on drug test cheating.
There are several reasons as to why one would be subjected to drug testing in the workplace, all of which have found significant positivity rates. Leading the charge are tests due to reasonable suspicion, followed by post-accident, follow-up, return to duty, pre-employment, and random testing. There are many reasons why an employer may choose to drug test their workers, which has also led to an uptick in test tampering to evade the consequences of inappropriate drug use. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, there was a 6x increase in tampered test samples. This increase is just one finding that is driving forward new cheating policies that many states are beginning to put into effect.
There are currently 10 states with anti-cheating policies in place, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Oregon is also on this list, which is especially significant because it is also on the list of states with the most positive drug tests, at 6.5%. Thanks to new technology in the field, these states have been able to use the newest methods for detecting foul play during the drug testing process. Anti-cheating policies for drug testing may include detailed check-in times for employees, adulterant tests to check for foreign substances, and dilution detection to ensure that pure samples are being collected.
More and more industries are now testing their workforce, especially those that employ people in dangerous or vulnerable positions. It is also widely accepted that these industries house some of our most essential workers, further emphasizing the need for further measures to keep them safe. Industries like energy utilities, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing are currently leading the testing charge, followed closely by wholesale trade and construction. These fields rely on safe and sober operations during the workday to ensure that their employees make it home safely to their families. Especially as drug laws in each state continue to become more lenient, it is important to be prepared for the future of drug legislation and drug testing in the United States.
Source: USDrugTestCenters.com