A strong majority of licensed truck drivers in the U.S. say that federal marijuana laws need to change, and most say that current cannabis testing policies for drivers are steering people away from the transportation sector amid a driver shortage, according to a new report.
With an estimated 65,000-driver deficit in the country, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) carried out an analysis of driver marijuana testing policies that also included revealing survey data from drivers who say that the status quo needs to change.
“More than half of all positive trucking industry drug tests are for marijuana metabolite,” which can stay in a person’s systems for weeks after consuming, the report, published on Monday, says. Federal prohibition “has been highlighted as a potential disincentive for drivers to stay in the industry, and it has even been argued that loosening the restrictions on marijuana use would make the industry more attractive and widen the potential labor pool.”
Current federal law mandates that commercial drivers abstain from cannabis, subjecting them to various forms of drug screening, from pre-employment to randomized testing.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE#ATRI Releases New Research that Evaluates the Impacts of Marijuana Legalization on the Trucking Industry and its Workforcehttps://t.co/UyPmF3pq9o #TruckingResearch
— ATRI (@Truck_Research) June 5, 2023
A survey component of ATRI’s report found that 72.4 percent of licensed drivers…