The federal workplace drug test guidelines have been revised by a top health agency to clarify that medical marijuana used under a doctor’s recommendation is not an acceptable excuse for a positive THC result.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced in a pair notices that will be published on Thursday in the Federal Register, that they had revised their guidance for saliva and urine tests to include the clarification of cannabis policy, despite comments received against the proposal when it was first announced last.
However, the agency made one change to their initial plan. The revised language notes that passive or accidental exposure to any illegal drug, and not just cannabis, does not excuse a positive result for federal employment.
The newly adopted language clarifies that the federal government continues to be a prohibitionist.
SAMHSA acknowledges in the new notices that it has received many comments calling for a reconsideration of its marijuana testing policy. Many of these comments called for the federal legalization of cannabis. It said that the new guidance is justified by the existing law.
In both notices, it stated that “Although a growing number of States allow marijuana to be used for medical reasons, marijuana is still a Schedule I controlled drug and cannot legally prescribed by Federal law.” For the Federal Drug Free Workplace Program, Federal marijuana control laws supersede state marijuana laws. A physician’s recommendation of marijuana is therefore not a valid medical explanation for a marijuana positive test.
The current Federal law requires Federal Agencies to test for marijuana in their workplace drug testing programs under E.O. SAMHSA stated that they use Executive Order 12564 to test for marijuana in their workplace drug-testing programs. The executive order was issued in 1986 by Ronald Reagan and generally prohibited government employees from using Schedule I or Schedule II drugs.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is the umbrella organization that SAMHSA falls into, recently recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that marijuana be moved from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III, which is less restrictive.
This would not federally legalize cannabis. Some attorneys think that a move to Schedule III, which would be in line with the Reagan-era order that defines “illegal” drugs as those only listed on Schedules I and 2, could remove marijuana restrictions currently imposed on federal workers . SAMHSA may need to revise its newly adopted federal workplace drug-testing guidelines if that is the case.
The only significant amendment to SAMHSA’s original proposed cannabis language last year was to clarify that “passive exposure to any drug, not just marijuana smoke” and the ingestion of foods containing drugs (not just those containing pot) are not acceptable explanations medically for a positive test.
Here is the updated language of Sections 13.5 (c)(2) and (13.5(d)(2) in the Mandatory Guidelines on Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs.
(i) Exposure to marijuana smoke (for example) is not an acceptable medical explanation for a positive result on a drug test.
(ii). Ingestion of food containing drugs (e.g. products containing marijuana or poppy seeds that contain codeine and/ormorphine) does not constitute a valid medical explanation for the positive result on a urine drug test.
(iii). A doctor’s prescription or authorization for a Schedule 1 controlled drug is not an acceptable medical explanation for the positive result of a drug test.
The revision is timely as there’s a growing awareness about the conflict between state law allowing some form of legal access to cannabis and workplace drug-testing policies that prohibit such use.
In recent years, federal lawmakers have tried to protect workers and job seekers from being penalized due to cannabis.
A newly re-filed bill by more than forty congressional Democrats would protect people who work in the climate sector from being fired if they tested positive for marijuana.
The House Rules Committee repeatedly blocked efforts by lawmakers to stop the practice of testing federal job candidates for marijuana in large-scale spending measures this session.
In the Senate however, in July, senators passed defense legislation that includes provisions prohibiting intelligence agencies such as the CIA or NSA from denying applicants security clearances solely because of their past marijuana usage.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee passed a bipartisan bill in the last month which would prohibit denials of federal employment and security clearances because a candidate has used marijuana.
Where Donald Trump, the presidential candidate, stands on marijuana
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