Testing for cannabis is making it increasingly harder for maritime companies to hire employees. Pre-employment drug tests have been a staple in the U.S. for several decades now but maritime employers say they are limiting the pool of eligible employees they can tap into.
Dozens of states may have legalized medical and recreational marijuana, but the drug remains controlled at the federal level. As a result, some employers are required by law to test job applicants and current employees to check for cannabis and other controlled substances during drug tests.
But as the third most popular drug in the U.S. after caffeine and alcohol, cannabis is turning up in an increasingly larger number of maritime drug tests. Even though just 20% of the adult population in the U.S. (52 million) uses cannabis, data shows that near-daily or daily usage (DND) of marijuana is greater than alcohol.
In comparison, 132 million adults, or 50% of the U.S. population reported drinking alcohol in the last month. A 2024 study published in the journal Addiction found that around 17.7 million people (35% of the U.S. population) use cannabis daily or near daily compared to 14.7 million for alcohol.
Furthermore, with the proliferation of increasingly potent cannabis products, a significant number of American adults are using cannabis with high levels of THC. The development of various form factors allows customers to consume cannabis in anything from beverages and pre-rolls to edibles and concentrates, increasing the drug’s reach even further.
However, science hasn’t caught up with marijuana’s surging popularity. There are no standardized methods to test for cannabis intoxication and existing tests still can’t determine the relation between cannabis levels in the blood and actual intoxication. Urine testing is currently the cannabis testing method approved by the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Transportation (DOT) requirements.
Both the DOT and Coast Guard have a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and their employees are subject to regular drug tests. In addition to pre-employment tests, the Coast Guard runs random drug tests on 50% of its licensed employees every month. Employees who fail are terminated from their positions and may even lose their merchant mariner credentials.
Some industry sources say that pre-employment drug tests, especially the urine tests, are severely limiting the number of workers shipyard employers can hire. The insiders say the failure rate for urine tests has been quite high in some areas, making it difficult for maritime employers to fill their ranks.
A shipyard manager in the Seattle area says shipyard employees aren’t always subject to frequent random drug tests but can be tested in the aftermath of an accident if there is reason to believe an employee was under the influence. While he doesn’t want to risk losing skilled employees for what they do during their downtime, the manager says they draw the line when safety is concerned.
Federal marijuana policy reform would remove this conflict between state law and federal law so that adults working in different industries can have the option of using cannabis products if they so wish without fear of risking their jobs. Entities like Aurora Cannabis Corp. (NASDAQ: ACB) (TSX: ACB) operating in Canada serve clients free from the legal complications present in the U.S. due to differences between state laws and federal laws.
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