Medical Marijuana Drug Testing. Know Your Rights! by United Patients Group

Here we cover the basics of drug testing in the workplace, including employer and state policies, types of drug tests, a detection timeline, and how to avoid a negative result.

Ronald Reagan passed an Executive Order in 1986 that mandated federal workers be drug-free on and off the job. This spawned the emergence of random drug testing, as well as reasonable-suspicion drug testing, across the private and public sectors that has only multiplied since 1986. As more and more states are legalizing the recreational and medical use of marijuana, many companies still follow the federal government in deeming it an illicit drug. So what do you need to know about drug testing at work and how can you protect yourself?

ADA Guidelines for Drug Testing

Laws for drug testing vary from state to state and from company to company. In order for employers to comply with the ADA and other federal statutes, they must set clear drug testing policies and notify applicants and employees when testing is required, how testing is conducted and the confidentiality of drug test results.

Employer drug testing policies may include:

–        Pre-Employment Testing

–        Reasonable Suspicion

–        Periodic or Random Drug Testing

–        Post-Incident Testing

Pre-employment, reasonable suspicion and post-incident testing all make sense. Your productivity and safety may suffer while working under the influence, which will cost your employer money, which they want to avoid.

Random drug testing is considered an invasion of privacy by many employees, but employers still have the right to perform such tests. The Supreme Court has also ruled in the past that it can be necessary in order to protect the health and safety of others. Random drug testing is mainly reserved for security and safety-sensitive positions, so an employer’s drug testing policy may be in violation of ADA guidelines if random drug testing is not job related or if it is enforced in a discriminatory manner.

Some states, like California, have decided that blanket pre-employment testing is legal, but there must be cause to test current employees.

We found the following list of rules for drug testing applicants and employees by state

Types of Drug Tests

There are several ways employers can test for marijuana either currently or residually in your system.

–        Urinalysis – Most common. Detects recent use, not current impairment.

–        Blood – Less commonly used because it is considered the most intrusive. Detects current impairment.

–        Saliva – Convenient and quick results. Less intrusive, but also a shorter detection time.

–        Hair – Detects current presence of drugs, but is criticized for having racial and age biases, and for being inconsistent in the detection of marijuana.

The majority of the drug tests performed annually in the United States are urine tests. Urinalysis cannot detect the current presence of any illicit drugs; it can only detect the drug metabolites left in your system after use. Factors that can influence this timeline are weight, body fat, amount used and frequency of use, which vary for each user.

Detection Times

Since marijuana is fat soluble and remains in your system longer the more you use it, it can be impossible to determine the exact length of time it will take you to pass a drug test. According to California NORML, the approximate detection times for marijuana in each type of test are below:

Drug Testing and You

When you accept a new position, you should generally expect that your employment will be contingent upon passing a drug test. You will most likely be required to take a urine test, which will detect drug metabolites in your system from previous use, depending on a number of factors. A lot of the cleanses, diuretics and other quick ways said to get around a drug test have been debunked. If you are thinking about trying to dilute or replace your urine with clean urine, be aware that the testing facility may make you change into a hospital gown or leave your bag in their possession. They may also test the toilet water after the fact, test the temperature of the urine or even watch while you submit your sample.

If you plan on using marijuana regularly to treat pain or other symptoms, make sure you are familiar with the effects. Be smart. Don’t try a vaporizer or different kind of edible for the first time an hour before you go to work. Don’t advertise to your co-workers that you are using cannabis, either. If your employer suspects that you are under the influence, factors of which they should have outlined in their drug testing policy, you can be subject to reasonable suspicion testing.

As far as random drug testing goes, we have yet to see how companies will change their policies in light of recent state legalization, if at all. In our opinion, it’s one thing to test us if we clearly show signs of intoxication, but it’s another to put the fate of our jobs, income, benefits and reputation in the hands of a random draw.

Do you have a story or opinion about random drug testing? We’d love to hear it.

Get the Latest Information About Medical Cannabis, CBD and Product Discounts.

Signup and receive the latest research, articles, product discounts, and product samples.
UPG Newsletter Sign Up