Bill Current
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When it comes to legalizing marijuana, numbers speak volumes. Let’s look at some important numbers: 39.4 billion, 36, 17, and 1.
Why has the legalization of marijuana spread so rapidly from state to state over the past 10 years? The answer is very simple—39,400,000,000. Or more accurately stated: “39.4 billion dollars.” That’s what experts predict will be the projected revenue from sales of marijuana by 2023.[1] The old adage “where there’s a will there’s a way” could read “where there’s this much money at stake, there’s no way out.” In other words, legal marijuana is here to stay. Private equity and even state and federal governments have invested too much money into it to ever let it die.
That is why 36 exist and 17 are growing. Those numbers represent the number of states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes and the number of states that have legalized pot for so-called recreational use or, to use the politically correct term—“adult-use marijuana.” Which leads us to the next number: 1.
The number 1 represents the number of tragic accidents it will take before the world wakes up and realizes what a horrible mistake we have made by legalizing the #1 illicit drug of abuse. Marijuana is far from the harmless, benign drug some would have us believe. Marijuana has proven time after time that it is the most dangerous drug in the world. Here’s just one example:
On January 4, 1987, a Conrail train collided with an Amtrak passenger train. In the minutes leading up to the accident, the engineer of the Conrail train, Ricky Gates, and his brakeman, Edward Cromwell, were smoking pot. While high on marijuana, the Conrail crew failed to stop at various signals, which if they had it was later determined, a tragedy could have been avoided. Instead, a completely preventable collision resulted in 16 people being killed and 170 others injured.[2]
That wasn’t the first drug-related “workplace” accident, and it wouldn’t be the last. But it hastened the implementation of mandatory random drug and alcohol testing regulations in the transportation industry. Many reports and studies have since shown a direct correlation between drug and alcohol testing and a nationwide decline in positive workplace drug test results. Presumably, drug testing was deterring drug use by workers and preventing people from attempting to perform safety-sensitive jobs while being impaired by marijuana on the job.
Marijuana Use on the Rise
Let’s look at two other numbers: 57.2 million and 48.2 million. In the federal government’s 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 57.2 million people 12 and older admitted to using illicit drugs in the past year and 48.2 million of them admitted they used marijuana.[3] With marijuana use leading the way, substance abuse in America is in the throes of a six-year upward trend and that does not include substance abuse figures from 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic is believed to have caused an additional and significant spike in drug and alcohol use.[4]
Marijuana Legalization Is Dangerous
Colorado is a bellwether state for the marijuana legalization movement. The Centennial State was among the first to officially legalize recreational marijuana in January 2014. Since that time, marijuana use has increased and been the cause of an increase in marijuana-related traffic fatalities. Consider the following:
- “Since recreational marijuana was legalized, marijuana related traffic deaths increased 151 percent while all Colorado traffic deaths increased 35 percent.
- Since recreational marijuana was legalized, traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana more than doubled from 55 in 2013 to 138 people killed in 2017.
- This equates to one person killed every 2 ½ days compared to one person killed every 6 ½ days.
- The percentage of all Colorado traffic deaths that were marijuana related increased from 11.43 percent in 2013 to 21.3 percent in 2017.”[5]
True or False?
Marijuana use is increasing. The dangerous impact of this increase is evident. Yet, there are many falsehoods floating around about marijuana and drug testing. Let’s clarify some of this misinformation with a game of true or false.
True or False? Testing for marijuana is no longer legal.
Answer: False. Drug testing for marijuana is legal in all 50 states. A few states that have legalized marijuana have placed certain conditions on what employers can do with a positive result, but no state has outlawed testing for marijuana. However, confusion still exists. In a 2020 survey of employers conducted by the Current Consulting Group (CCG), 33% of employers who had dropped marijuana from their drug test panel said they did so because testing for marijuana was not permitted in their state. Again, that’s not true. Employers can test for marijuana in all 50 states.
True or False? Oral fluid testing cannot detect marijuana.
Answer: False. In fact, lab-based oral fluid testing is the only drug testing method endorsed by the federal government that is capable of detecting the recent use of marijuana. Oral fluid testing detects the parent drug, which means drugs like marijuana are detectable almost immediately after usage. Other testing methods only detect a metabolite of a drug, which takes hours to become detectable in a urine sample and 7-10 days in a hair sample.
Also, lab-based oral fluid testing is permitted in 47 states and is often preferred in situations where traditional collection methods are impractical or costly such as remote workplaces or companies that maintain 24/7 work shifts.
True or False? Pre-employment testing for marijuana is no longer practical.
Answer: False. With the dramatic increase in marijuana use over the past five years, pre-employment testing has never been more important. All 50 states permit pre-employment testing for marijuana. Only New York City (not state) has banned pre-employment marijuana testing and even the Big Apple allows it for a long list of safety-sensitive positions.
State Laws & Testing for Marijuana
Let’s examine one more important number: 50. As you may have already surmised, that’s the number of states that legally permit employers to test applicants and employees for marijuana.
There are many different state laws that can impact drug testing for marijuana, including:
- Mandatory drug testing laws that apply to all employers in a state that conduct drug testing.
- Voluntary drug testing laws that offer employers specific incentives to conduct drug testing.
- Workers’ comp regulations that permit employers to move to deny benefits to an employee who tested positive following an accident.
- Unemployment comp regulations that permit employers to move to deny benefits to a worker terminated for drug-related issues.
- Marijuana laws that legalize the use of marijuana but do not permit workers to be impaired by pot while on the job.
What do all of these state laws have in common? They all permit drug testing, they all permit testing for marijuana (and in some cases mandate it), and they all permit pre-employment testing.
Conclusion
Marijuana has become a numbers game and sometimes it may seem like the people in favor of legalization are winning the game. But look again. Employers have one big number working in their favor when it comes to protecting the workplace from the negative effects of marijuana. Drug testing for marijuana is legal in all 50 states. What would you call a 50-0 record?
[1] “$39.4 Billion Cannabis Market – Global Forecast to 2023: Product Development Via Research and Novel Product Delivery Solutions.” Cision PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/39-4-billion-cannabis-market—global-forecast-to-2023-product-development-via-research-and-novel-product-delivery-solutions-300758859.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Maryland_train_collision
[3] https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2018-2019-nsduh-estimated-totals-state
[4] American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/03/substance-use-pandemic
[5] “The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact Volume 5 – 2018, UPDATE.”
https://www.madd.org/hawaii/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2019/02/ImpactUpdate_ColoradoLeagaliztionMarijuana_10.18.pdf
