Marijuana and alcohol remain the most detected
drugs in impaired driving incidents leading to serious or fatal
injuries
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The American Trucking Associations is calling
attention to the negative consequences for highway safety and
safety-sensitive industries that could result from the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration's proposal to reschedule marijuana
from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. In anticipation of the
proposed rule that was announced today, ATA sent a
letter to express these concerns to Attorney General
Merrick Garland, Health and Human
Services Secretary Xavier Becerra
and Transportation Secretary Pete
Buttigieg.
ATA is alarmed by the possibility that this reclassification
could prohibit certain industries from screening for marijuana use
by workers performing safety-sensitive roles. The absence of a
reliable standard for marijuana impairment makes it all the more
critical for motor carriers to have visibility into marijuana
usage. If the trucking and broader transportation industries'
ability to conduct drug testing for marijuana use is restricted,
the risk of impaired drivers operating on our nation's roadways
undetected would increase, endangering all who share the road.
"ATA believes that it is vitally important that your agencies
ensure an ongoing allowance for marijuana testing of
safety-sensitive workers to avoid deterioration of highway safety,"
wrote American Trucking Associations Senior Vice President of
Regulatory Affairs and Safety Policy Dan Horvath. "If this
rulemaking is permitted to move forward without appropriate
regulatory review, oversight and deliberation, ATA is concerned
that it will severely curtail the ability of motor carriers and
other employers of safety-sensitive positions to maintain a safe
working environment, threatening the safety of all road users."
These threats to safety are not merely hypothetical. Marijuana
and alcohol remain the most detected drugs in impaired driving
incidents leading to serious or fatal injuries. State-level
marijuana legalization has been linked to an uptick in crashes.
Current DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements are governed –
and therefore limited in their testing authority – by HHS'
Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs,
which allow regulated employers to test only for those drugs listed
in Schedule I or II of the CSA. Therefore, without additional
action, deregulation or rescheduling of marijuana would have the
likely consequence of precluding testing for all professional
drivers and transportation workers as part of the DOT testing
program.
Read ATA's full letter here.
American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade
association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50
affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related
conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America
depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA
on Twitter or Facebook.
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SOURCE American Trucking Associations