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Positive Drug Tests for Pot Hit All-Time High

Americans fail drug test because pot is more popular than ever. The solutions range from legalization to banning pot testing altogether.

Quest Diagnostics drug-tested more than 11 million people over the course of 2021. The tests were done via hair, urine and oral fluid drug test. Some startling trends were found in some of the 9 million tests. Quest Diagnostics quietly announced last month that pot usage is leading to more drug failures.

The rate of positive drug test results among America’s workforce overall hit a 20-year peak as well. It’s the highest rate since 2001, up over 30% in the combined U.S. workforce from an all-time low in 2010-2012, according to the analysis.

Click here to see an interactive map showing the Drug Testing Index (DTI), including trends and positivity rates.

“Positivity rates for marijuana in the general U.S. workforce, based on more than 6 million urine tests, continued an upward climb, increasing 8.3% (3.6% in 2020 versus 3.9% in 2021), the highest positivity rate ever reported in the DTI,” the survey summarizes. “Over five years, positivity for marijuana in the general U.S. workforce increased 50% (2.6% in 2017 versus 3.9% in 2021).”

The Wall Street JournalThe number of legal states for cannabis has increased since 2017 when there were lower rates of positive tests. Fresh Toast, on the other hand, questioned whether or not it’s time for policymakers to reflect what is going on in the general workforce amid the report of record-high numbers.

Quest Diagnostics leadership acknowledged the disconnect between social changes and drug testing results. Drug tests not only impact job applicants and employees—but the retention rates employers grapple with.

“Employers are wrestling with significant recruitment and retention challenges as well as with maintaining safe and engaging work environments that foster positive mental and physical wellbeing,” said Keith Ward, General Manager and Vice President, Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions. “Our Drug Testing Index data raises important questions about what it means to be an employer committed to employee health and safety. Employers may feel compelled to reduce their standards in order to lure talent. In the process, they raise the specter of more drug-related impairment and worksite accidents that put other employees and the general public in harms’ way.”

It is difficult to determine impairment by drug testing of cannabis.

A study associated with the National Institute of Justice found that THC levels are “unreliable indicators” of impairment. RTI International, a National Institute of Justice supported researcher, looked at how cannabis dosages relate to THC levels. Their findings were shocking.

“Laws regarding driving under the influence of marijuana vary from state to state, with a growing trend toward ‘per se’ laws that use a level of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, one of the psychoactive substances in marijuana) in the blood, urine, or oral fluid as a determinant of intoxication,” researchers wrote. “However, there is little evidence correlating a specific THC level with impaired driving, making marijuana per se laws controversial and difficult to prosecute.”

These findings are in line with the Lambert Initiative’s research at the University of Sydney, Australia. Chronic NewsThis was last year. Research at the Lambert Initiative is focusing on marijuana impairment as well as drug tests to measure impairment.

“Unlike alcohol, you simply cannot infer whether some is affected by THC, or how affected they are, based simply on the amount of THC they have in their system,” Dr. Thomas R. Arkell told Chronic News last October.

He continued, saying it’s “ridiculous” to base laws and workplace rules on drug tests when it comes to cannabinoids.

Jobs That Don’t Drug Test

Do employers It is reallyDo you need to drug-test potential employees? Former President Ronald Reagan’s Drug Free Workplace Act was implemented in 1988. The first drug test was required by 21% of employers in 1987. It grew to 81% in 1996.

Employers are being forced to reconsider the pre-employment cannabis testing for job candidates due to state after state’s legalization of cannabis for recreational or medical purposes.

Amazon would be the company most famous to have done this. On June 1, 2021, the company released a blog post based on its goal to become both “Earth’s Best Employer” and “Earth’s Safest Place to Work.” In that announcement, it confirmed that it would be adjusting its drug testing policy to avoid testing for cannabis.

ForbesProfiled Phynally search engine, which was founded in April by Damian Jorden. If they want to use cannabis on their own, then Phynally is a great tool for saving time.

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