In the United States, much of the legislation that regulates the legality of certain drugs is handled at the state level. This means that these laws vary drastically by state, one of those laws being employee drug testing laws. There are currently only 5 states where testing in the workplace is completely legal. However, this past year, more than 500 bills related to drug testing were introduced, showing the speed at which these laws are changing and evolving.
The legalization of marijuana was the true start of this movement, with many states legalizing the substance for not only medical use but also recreational use. Because of this, in the past 5 years alone, positive marijuana tests have increased by nearly 50%. For workers in dangerous industries, this may pose a serious risk. To keep people safe at work, many industry and state leaders are pushing for stronger employee drug testing laws and anti-tampering policies.
Today, 10 states already have anti-cheating policies in place to discourage tampering with drug tests. Additionally, industries like energy, transportation, manufacturing, wholesale, and construction are leading the charge in putting their employees’ safety first, no matter how lenient the state drug legislation becomes.
Source: USDrugTestCenters.com
