Heller: Don’t let safety go up in smoke

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.    

FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse data currently shows that marijuana metabolite is by far the most widely identified substance in drug tests performed to comply with 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 A final federal rule that allowed oral fluid tests to detect marijuana was recently rescinded.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 meant that the rule's implementation had a long way to go before becoming reality. This is not a ringing endorsement for reclassifying marijuana now. 

See also: DOT clarifies marijuana testing requirements should remain intact regardless of reclassification

Furthermore, we continue to wait for long-overdue guidance or a rule from the Department of Health & 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 a 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 column 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 “Cheech and Chong” dream, we can provide our industry with the tools to succeed along with a fully implemented clearinghouse for others to follow in their footsteps.