Marijuana Use in Trucking

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CSA Basics.

The podcast where we talk about all things related to safety, compliance, and insurance for the trucking industry. We're here to help you save money, save time, and save lives. Now, here's your host, CEO of Carrier Risk Solutions, Sam Tucker.

All right, thanks for joining us on CSA Basics Podcast. Today I want to talk about pot, or Mary Jane, marijuana, hash, reefer, whatever you want to call it. That's what we're talking about today. So Recently, the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse released their monthly report showing the amount of drug use and those kind of fun things, and they just did a recap for 2022. And so nearly 41,000 drivers tested positive for marijuana use in 2022, which was a 32% increase over 2021. So, you know, a lot of people say beware of geeks with calculators or nerds and statistics and those fun things and trying to make Uh, numbers tell a story that you want to tell, but I don't think there's really any way to, you know, kind of sugarcoat what's happened here. I think that one, we have the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse on one hand, which is making it a lot easier and more transparent for drivers to get caught and report it on a national level, to be able to understand which drivers are actively participating in drug use. But the other part of it is, is that, you know, I think that just more drivers may be using marijuana and other, uh, any of the other 14 drugs that the FMCSA tests for, the DOT tests for. So I think what we really have here are 2 trends that are kind of converging to taking in and having an impact on the industry in general. And one of those is the legalization or decriminalization of pot. So legalization currently over, let's see, 21 states have legalized recreational use of marijuana. And in 39 states, medical marijuana is legal. So that's a huge trend over the last probably 10 or 15 years specifically, but that trend's growing 'cause even now within 2023, there's 4 more states, Minnesota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, which are looking to legalize it this year. So there's a growing trend across the country that more states are making marijuana legal to use and possess. And for those states who may not be making it legal, The growing trend for decriminalization is still a big impact too. So what that means is essentially like here in Metro Atlanta in Georgia, what a lot of the counties have said though, even though recreational use isn't technically legal in the state, a lot of the officers, law enforcement, are actually just kind of turning a blind eye to it. So if you have a small amount in your possession, they're gonna say, hey, you know, it's not a big deal, we're not going to bust you up on that, and those kind of things. So definitely something to kind of keep in the back of your mind. Other part is, or the other large trend that we're seeing happen is the growing use of CBD products, and THC products are offsets or derivatives of marijuana. So, as part of holistic medicine and kind of natural medicine, a lot of people are turning to CBD products or other kind of cannabis derivatives to help ease pain or take care of other medical conditions. And what a lot of folks don't realize is that even though those CBD oil products or CBD products may say they don't have any kind of THC in them. They don't have the ability, or nobody really has the ability to test for that on a regular basis or any kind of effective basis to be able to say, yeah, that's true, or they can make that claim, but actually backing up that claim's a totally different situation, 'cause all those products are not regulated by the FDA. So even having the ability to say, Yeah, this is what it is, it's just a claim, and you can't back that up. So we've actually had a number of fleets, a couple times this has actually happened, where we've had a driver test positive for drug use, for marijuana use, and they say, hey, I've never touched this stuff, I don't know what you're talking about. But what happened was they had actually used CBD products, and the suspicion was those CBD products, in one case it was CBD gummies, they had gummies that were infused with CBD oil, and they said, well, I didn't think it was a big deal, it was CBD, it said it didn't have any marijuana or THC products in it. But come to find out, you know, they tested positive on a drug test. So either they ate a ton of those gummies and it had a very small amount each one or something like that, or they were just lying to us, which is possible too. But either way, whatever happened was they tested positive on the drug test. They had to go undergo the return to duty program to be able to drive again for a different fleet. The fleet that we were talking about specifically, they didn't allow drug use obviously, and they don't have any drivers who have gone through the Return to Duty Program. So with that fleet, as with many others, if you test positive for drugs, you're out. So that's a big thing. Speaking of being out, since the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse started, it looks like about 100,000 drivers have tested positive for marijuana use, which is crazy. And part of it, I think, again, like we were talking about in the beginning, was a little bit more just the transparency in the process. So these drivers may have been using all along and just weren't getting caught. And now I think people or fleets are paying a lot more attention close attention about who is using and making sure their drug and alcohol testing programs are up to snuff, I guess is a good way to put it. So of those 100,000 drivers that have been tested, actually of the 177,000 or so drivers who have tested positive for drugs or alcohol and been reported to the Clearinghouse with a positive result, only about 40,000 of those drivers have actually completed the return to duty process or are driving again or are eligible to drive again.

Okay.

Because they went through the SAP process and then took a return-to-duty test. 90,000 of those drivers haven't even started the process. So 90,000 drivers who previously were driving and using drugs at some point, or have used a drug test at some point, were actually effectively left the industry because they're not able to physically drive. Either that or they're still driving and they just went out and are driving for themselves, which is— Kind of even a scarier thought, but that's also a possibility too. To that note, yes, a lot of times what happens is if you're driving for a fleet and that driver gets caught, tested positive for drugs, alcohol use, whatever the case is, then they're effectively not able to drive legally. But the problem is, is that they'll just go and either start their own company, drive for themselves, and not drug test themselves or not participate in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Program. And that's kind of what happens, which is still kind of a hole, but there's no real way to plug that, I don't think. So there's a lot of things still happening there, and I don't anticipate that's going to slow down anytime soon. So I just want to reiterate that drug use is 100% not okay in, in trucking. And then marijuana use, even though it's growing to be a lot more legalized across the country, on a federal level is still absolutely 100% illegal. To possess or use marijuana or be under the influence of marijuana, and especially for truck drivers or anybody holding a CDL who's operating commercial interstate or commercial intrastate, it's still 100% illegal. Just no ifs, ands, or buts about it. So a couple takeaways. One, don't use drugs. That's a really good one to start with. So if you're a commercial truck driver out there, don't use drugs, just period. Marijuana use especially is the leading cause of failed drug tests in the country. That's— Obviously a large concern for everyone. And then also too, don't use CBD products because if you can't 100% verify the effectiveness of those and not having THC products or byproducts in it, then it's the same and you can't really tell one way or the other. So even though a product may say it doesn't have THC or any other kind of marijuana byproducts in it, they can't promise that or you can't effectively rely on that. So doing so could be putting your CDL at risk. So if you have any questions about that, don't hesitate to reach out to us. Love to chat with you. Otherwise, y'all stay safe out there and we'll talk to you soon.

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