DOT Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance Notice

Good afternoon. With the passing of laws pertaining to recreational use of marijuana, there has been an increase of questions pertaining to being in a safety-sensitive position and testing positive in the states that have recently passed legislation allowing for recreational use of marijuana. Below is the verbiage from the Federal DOT. It explains both the restriction of use of recreational marijuana in these states that have passed legislation and whether those using marijuana for medical purposes will be allowed to work in a safety-sensitive position. The confirmed test result will result in a violation or positive drug test. It should be further noted that many non-DOT companies policies prohibit the use of marijuana, a Class 1 drug, as it can contribute to unsafe working conditions. Please print this notice from the DOT and notify all safety-sensitive employees of the DOT's position on marijuana use. Also, if your company policy supports this position for non-DOT employees, it would be a good time to reiterate your company policy on the prohibition of use of marijuana.

DOT OFFICE OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICY AND COMPLIANCE NOTICE

Recently, some states passed initiatives to permit use of marijuana for so-called “recreational” purposes.

We have had several inquiries about whether these state initiatives will have an impact upon the Department of Transportation’s longstanding regulation about the use of marijuana by safety-sensitive transportation employees – pilots, school bus drivers, truck drivers, train engineers, subway operators, aircraft maintenance personnel, transit fire-armed security personnel, ship captains, and pipeline emergency response personnel, among others.

We want to make it perfectly clear that the state initiatives will have no bearing on the Department of Transportation’s regulated drug testing program. The Department of Transportation’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulation – 49 CFR Part 40 – does not authorize the use of Schedule I drugs, including marijuana, for any reason.

Therefore, Medical Review Officers (MROs) will not verify a drug test as negative based upon learning that the employee used “recreational marijuana” when states have passed “recreational marijuana” initiatives.

We also firmly reiterate that an MRO will not verify a drug test negative based upon information that a physician recommended that the employee use “medical marijuana” when states have passed “medical marijuana” initiatives.

It is important to note that marijuana remains a drug listed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. It remains unacceptable for any safety-sensitive employee subject to drug testing under the Department of Transportation’s drug testing regulations to use marijuana.

We want to assure the traveling public that our transportation system is the safest it can possibly be.

Update 12/3/2012