For the last almost 9 years, the company I work for has been drug testing me. In fact, at one point I worked in a “high-risk” position and was urine, breath, and hair follicle tested 2-4 times per year. It was excessive by any reasonable standard, but I saw it as a necessary evil. Of course, 8 years ago in Texas there wasn’t anything controversial about it. Things are different now.
Fortunately for me, I passed every drug test I was given, but 2.2% of Texans weren’t so lucky. That’s the percentage of THC positive tests in 2018 according to Quest Diagnostics’ interactive map. Obviously every company has their own policy for a positive test, but it’s safe to say that many hard-working Texans lost their jobs for cannabis use. Whether they were cancer patients or recreational users, their fate was largely the same.
So what value do these companies see in testing employees for THC?
Most argue that cannabis use leads to impairment that causes an unsafe work environment. They think because of this it is better to remove the “problem employees” to ensure a safe work environment for others. For years this was almost axiomatic in the workplace. So what has changed and why is drug testing bad for business now? Since we finally have actual data on the subject, let’s take a look.
1. THC blood/urine levels do not indicate intoxication.
According to the CDC, urine tests “cannot indicate performance impairment or assess the degree of risk associated with the person’s continuing to perform tasks.” Similar issues exist with blood testing. Because THC and its derivatives are fat soluble, they stick around in your system much longer than other drugs. Regular users may test positive for hours or even days after the effects have worn off entirely.
So why are you testing employees? If the goal is to reduce risk, learning that your employees have consumed marijuana at some point in the past several weeks tells you absolutely nothing of use. We don’t worry on Monday if our employees had a few beers on Friday night. We should treat cannabis the same way.
2. Random drug testing is a violation of privacy.
In the Texas private sector, there are almost no restrictions on how and when companies can drug test employees. For government employees, though, there are more protections. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, this is “due mainly to court decisions holding that testing employees without showing some kind of compelling justification violates government employees’ rights to be safe from unreasonable searches and seizures. “
I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me that unreasonable searches and seizures shouldn’t be allowed in the private sector either. As an employee that experiences regular random testing, I can assure you it feels incredibly invasive and does not instill a sense of trust in the employee/employer relationship. The threat of random drug testing often hangs over employees creating stress. Will they be fired because they took a trip to Denver or Portland and ate a couple edibles for the first time in a decade? It is absolutely ludicrous to ruin someone’s means to provide for their family because they did something legal on a vacation to another state or tried to alleviate nausea from chemotherapy.
3. Cannabis use doesn’t make an employee unsafe.
For starters, The International Journal of Drug Policy recently published a study that shows that states with medical marijuana programs actually see a reduction in workplace fatalities. Further, the association appears to grow stronger over time. Though this contradicts the logic of many who oppose legalization, it makes perfect sense if looked at objectively.
In many cases, medical marijuana allows employees to transition off strong drugs like Benzodiazepines, opioids, or other mood altering drugs. I personally know several people in legal states that have used cannabis to get off anti-depressants. Another factor that may be at play is reduced alcohol consumption. Unfortunately, more research is needed to determine the exact cause of the reduction in workplace fatalities, but the correlation is quite clear.
4. Prescription drugs are allowed.
As mentioned earlier, I’ve been drug tested extensively in my career. Each time, the technicians asked me what prescriptions I was taking to determine if they would interfere with results. It was never an issue as long as I disclosed my medications and the prescription was confirmed. If prescribed by a doctor, medicines such as adderall, benzodiazepines, and various anxiety medications were all allowed.
Of course, there were policies in place stating that you couldn’t be under the influence of mind-altering prescription drugs during high-risk jobs, but there was no real method of enforcing it. Patients were simply trusted to use sound judgement when taking their prescribed medication. Surely if this is an acceptable course of action for opioids and benzodiazepines it is also reasonable for cannabis.
5. It reduces your talent pool.
This one is pretty straight forward, so I won’t waste too much time on it. If you test applicants or employees for THC, you’re going to lose out on some incredible talent. Cannabis users are CEO’s, software engineers, sales executives, grad students, etc. It is exceedingly common for highly successful and intelligent people to use cannabis now (as it has been forever despite the stereotypes). In fact, I’d be willing to wager someone close to you uses cannabis occasionally whether you know it or not. With the stigma and risk associated with cannabis use in Texas, many keep their use very quiet. Thankfully this is slowly starting to change.
6. You’re wasting money.
I won’t re-hash (pun intended) the previous points. If you’re still following along though, it should be pretty clear that testing employees for THC is a bad idea. You’re essentially spending money to learn nothing useful, create tension in your workforce, and limit your talent pool. That is a bad investment by any measure.
The bottom line:
Employees aren’t stupid. They know that random drug testing is just a way for you to fire employees because you don’t agree with what they do in their personal time. This goes doubly for a right to work state like Texas where you can simply fire employees for under-performing or being visibly intoxicated.
If you want to garner your employees’ trust and create a positive work environment, do what is right and stop employee drug testing.