Written by David Heller, senior vice president of safety and government affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA)
Besides the usual aches and pains I experience every day, the very fact that I remember Cheech and Chong’s “Up in Smoke” bursting onto the movie scene more than four decades ago really ages me.
Since the cult classic film about cannabis was released in 1978, marijuana use has become more mainstream. Looking at a U.S. map of legalization efforts in 1978 versus today shows a dramatic difference. From being fully legalized to decriminalizing or incorporating medical aspects, the U.S. in 1978 was far from what it is today.
While current federal law mandates that commercial truck drivers abstain from using marijuana, the waters surrounding this issue have the propensity to get muddier with a recent proposal to reclassify marijuana to a Schedule III narcotic from its longtime Schedule I status.
As an industry, we actively recognize the effects that marijuana use could have on a professional truck driver’s safety performance and continue to explore ways the industry can detect that usage among the driving population. Invariably, any change to the schedules will almost always coincide with misinformation about marijuana use.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse data currently shows that marijuana metabolite is by far the most widely identified substance in drug tests performed to comply with Department of Transportation (DOT) protocols.
A reasonable assumption is that changing marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III narcotic does little to alleviate its presence as the number one detected substance.
Of course, it should be noted that this proposed change comes at a time when our industry still has no actual tests to perform on drivers that determine current impairment. While breathalyzers can accurately and quickly determine a driver’s blood alcohol concentration, no comparable device exists for marijuana.
A final federal rule that allowed oral fluid tests to detect marijuana was recently rescinded, citing issues regarding laboratory certification and the training of individuals collecting the specimens. This means that the rule’s implementation had a long way to go before becoming reality.
This is not a ringing endorsement for reclassifying marijuana now.
Furthermore, we continue to wait for long-overdue guidance or a rule from the Department of Health and Human Services about incorporating hair testing as an alternative measure to urine in DOT drug testing protocols.
In language that originally appeared in the FAST Act in 2015, our industry should have been well on its way toward using hair follicle testing for pre-employment drug screens. Instead, positive hair testing has not been incorporated into our highly successful Clearinghouse, leaving us to our own devices.
Research from the University of Central Arkansas demonstrates the efficacy of hair testing. In a study involving 88,021 licensed truck drivers who applied for jobs at seven Trucking Alliance member companies, both urinalysis and a hair drug test were administered. Of those applicants, 4,362 failed their hair tests — but only 403 failed the urine test.
Additionally, a more extensive study involving 936,872 drivers revealed that hair testing identified nine times more drug users than urine testing and detected marijuana use five times more frequently.
Make no mistake, recent legalization efforts have not curtailed crashes whatsoever. A study conducted in 2022 found that recreational marijuana legalization and subsequent onset of retail sales in five states were, on average, associated with a 5.8% increase in injury crash rates and a 4.1% increase in fatal crash rates. These statistics highlight the importance of maintaining stringent drug policies within the trucking industry.
With the increased accessibility and acceptance of marijuana, there is a heightened risk of impaired driving, which can result in devastating consequences for road safety.
The purpose of this article is not to question the merits of the marijuana legalization efforts that have taken place across the country, but to ask whether our industry has the resources necessary to curb its use on our roads. Time and again, our carriers have demonstrated their ability to help curb the presence of substances that affect the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles.
Maybe before the government reclassifies marijuana and realizes that 1970s dream presented in “Cheech and Chong,”, we can provide our industry with the tools to succeed along with a fully implemented clearinghouse for others to follow in their footsteps.
This article originally appeared in FleetOwner on September 12, 2024
The Truckload Authority News Staff, comprised of award winning journalists and graphic artists, produces content for Truckload Authority, working in cooperation with the Truckload Carriers Association staff. Truckload Authority aims to keep TCA members abreast on the latest trends in the trucking industry as well as articles that feature TCA member executives and drivers. The Truckload Authority staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
get real with things buddy. you’re simply very subjective in your opinion. however, in the event your just not enlightened, I will enlighten you. a blood test can pin point a last Marijuana use to the hour. so get with reality and legalize Marijuana 100 percent
This is absolutely the most idiotic article about marijuana i have ever read and only displays the total incompetence of the regulatory agencies and their lack of knowledge on the subject. Marijuana can and should be able to be comfortably enjoyed by adults for a various number of reasons that have already been determined. Also these regulations and consortiums that are put in place as gate keepers such as the clearinghouse are only discriminatory in nature and still do not address the rise in crashes. I have personally watched drivers (as I was a driver as well) go inside of any of the various truck stops across the country and come out with alcohol drink it in the truck rest 10 hrs and go back to driving with no regulation or testing able to even detect it’s usage so the scrutiny that this country puts on marijuana is downright wrong and needs to be stopped.
MARIJUANA USE “ENHANCES” DRIVERS SENSES, NOT “IMPAIR” THEM! STOP THE LIES AND MISINFORMATION YOU’RE PEDDLING! ALCOHOL IS THE TRUE IMPAIRER.
If people want to operate a CMV, they should not do it with crap in their system. It affects every person differently. I’ve seen people hallucinating after using Marijuana. Do it on your time.
Last thing anybody needs is a chronic user stoned out of their mind in a tractor trailer ,morning noon or night .accidents and fatalities are already out of control the last year.
I see it like alcohol. So long as you’re not high when driving, then there should be no issues. Moreover, people who would never drive drunk, are likely to never drive high, either.
The criminalization of cannabis is ridiculous. It was first criminalized (back around 1913) because a few in power thought it was linked to rising crime. Since then, it has gone from being criminalized, to being demonized. But what is even more ridiculous, is its banning sprang into being one of the largest black markets in the history of the United States. Prohibition (of alcohol) saw the rise of a large number of gangsters back in the 30s. But they never held a candle to the absolute myriad of gangsters that has engaged in the sale of marijuana over the last 90-plus years.
So my question is, how much longer are we to tolerate this extremely prolific black market for this stuff, and the crime and violence that comes with it? And for what? In the name of safety?
So yeah, let’s the drug labs get their tests together. Make tests that can determine when a person is high. And not just that they have had pot within the last month – which instantly disqualifies someone from driving a truck.
I like to drink, as a great many Americans do. I like to get high, too. But I do both in moderation, and never when I know I am going to be driving, at work, or I am about engage in any other activity where the exercise of safety is paramount. And I think I am part of what makes up the very vast majority of people out there.
You’re never going to get rid of idiots who abuse intoxicants. Anybody read drunk driving statistics lately? But let’s do away with the crime that revolves around the sale of weed. In the mean time, if you catch someone driving high, bust them! Bust them just like you would any other drunk driver! But disarm the drug lords. Make pot legal!
Trucking industry already has a shortage of drivers. Punishing people who are not causing problems would only increase the shortage, and would do nothing to prevent accidents. It might even encourage trucking companies to hire less skilled, less capable people to make up the shortage.
Improving the testing methods to correctly identify impaired individuals, without falsely accusing those who are not, would be part of the answer.
Hello. Having that Zen feeling of being stoned and in touch with every part of your moving semi vehicle in relation to it’s vibrations and motions touching roadway, aware of Earth environment, and every living thing in your immediate vicinity, and feeling good about life and positive towards mankind, obeying all driving laws and being tolerant of people on presciption narcotics, and bad drivers in general is not for weak minded squares. Some people really feel 80,000 pounds and know the ramifications of moving 40 tons safely, stoned or not, and it has nothing to do with cannabis. Cannabis often makes slaves happy, and doing time driving, drivers deserve to be happy. We will be replaced by self-driving soon enough. The corrupt jailers want new methods to incarcerate more slaves while they still can. ✌️
Any substance that can impair your ability to drive or make decisions is illegal, it doesn’t matter if it is legal. doctor prescribed drugs, while legal, can impair you abilities to drive. Vision, mental reaction time, muscle reaction to decisions all are affected by Marijuana usage. if you are a professional driver, you should be fighting to keep drugs out of our profession. An impaired driver is a deadly driver, whether in a truck or a car. Automobile drivers can go to jail if found to be impaired with Marijuana usage , so why shouldn’t truck drivers. Any talk of commercial vehicle drivers using Marijuana is just ludicrous and extremely dangerous
It’s wild a grown man can smoke a joint on a fishing trip over the weekend and lose his livelihood over a drug test on Monday…..finish a case of beer and a bottle of whiskey and that’s socially acceptable. It’s hardly even a matter of legality at this point since it’s legal in almost 50%of the US and in some cases have a Doctor prescribe it. If I pay taxes on buying marijuana the same as I do with alcohol who are you to say I can enjoy one but not the other on my day off. Oh well..don’t get with the times and enjoy the growing number of people refusing / failing drug tests.