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You are here: Home / Drug Testing / Following Science Means Saying No to Marijuana

Following Science Means Saying No to Marijuana

June 7, 2024 By Jim Randisi

This blog post details some reasons why following science means saying no to marijuana being moved from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. Our goal at R&A, Inc. is to provide employers with all the facts they need to enforce a strong drug test program on a pre-employment and random and reasonable suspicion basis. We focus on the drastically harmful effects on business owners if an employee is operating in a safety sensitive position and injures someone. We list the definition of a safety sensitive positions in this blog post.

Article on following science

This article in the Pittsburg Post Gazette by Stephen F. Gambescia had interesting observations and an opinion on the subject that we summarize in this blog post. He mentions that the White House’s move to pres­sure the U.S. Drug En­force­ment Agency (DEA) to re­clas­sify mar­i­juana from a highly con­trolled Sched­ule I drug (like her­oin and LSD) to a lesser con­trolled and reg­u­lated Sched­ule III drug flies in the face of our fed­eral lead­ers’ man­tra to “fol­low the sci­ence.”

Mr. Gambescia rightly points out that ev­i­dence of ben­e­fits re­mains elu­sive. Also, he highlights the fact that no ma­jor sur­vey has dared to ask the pub­lic what they know about the harm­ful ef­fects of us­ing mar­i­juana, which are real and sig­nifi­cant.

The DOJ ​and DEA’s re­cent “Drug Fact Sheet on Mar­i­juana/​Cann­abis” states a lit­any of re­ac­tions to its use such as a sick­en­ing mal­aise, psy­cho­mo­tor im­pair­ments, sen­sory im­pair­ments, and psy­cho­sis.

Mr. Gambescia states that the pub­lic is not get­ting rel­e­vant, ro­bust, and timely in­for­ma­tion about the known or sus­pected health haz­ards or even what ben­e­fits may ma­teri­al­ize.

Mr. Gambescia also mentions the fact that work­places will need to add a tome of pol­i­cies and pro­ce­dures and more drug test­ing to en­sure that em­ploy­ees are not tok­ing on the job.

Fur­ther­more, he writes, “the over­sight and con­trol of the drug’s use will drain re­sources for state de­part­ments of health. Look­ing down the road, nor­mal­iz­ing mar­i­juana looks to be yet an­other pub­lic health prob­lem. When the his­tory of lib­er­al­iz­ing pot is writ­ten, health­care and pub­lic health of­fi­cials can­not blame the greedy cor­po­ra­tions for the ill health that in­ev­i­ta­bly fol­lows. The blame goes to leg­is­la­tors and can­di­dates vy­ing to see who can be the most lib­eral and the ring of the tax cash reg­is­ter for gov­ern­ment coffers.”

“Ad­vo­cates to free mar­i­juana are giddy about beat­ing the Pu­ri­tanesque mon­i­ker for pot. Add to this the Biden ad­min­is­tra­tion’s push to gain votes and we could have yet another long-term drug cri­sis un­less fed­eral of­fi­cials prac­tice what they preach and fol­low the sci­ence.”

What one county in New Jersey is doing to assure safety

Thankfully there is one state, New Jersey, which has legalized marijuana but is taking action to assure its drivers of public works vehicles are not allowed to use it.

A random drug testing program by the Middlesex County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund (MCMJIF) is making sure the drivers aren’t under the influence while they’re plowing roads on frigid, snowy nights. MCMJIF members and other communities in Monmouth and Union counties – have taken a zero-tolerance approach to drug and alcohol use.

“Our job is to minimize risk as much as possible as a joint insurance fund,” MCMJIF Chairman Harry Delgado said. “Not only does it ensure a healthy, productive workforce, it greatly minimizes insurance costs for taxpayers in the municipalities we serve. That is why we are focused on commercial driver safety, as accidents can be a leading cause of insurance expense.”

Proof drugs used by drivers can maim and kill

In this blog post we provide proof that marijuana users are involved in more accidents.

This article  states that a larger percentage of fatally injured drivers aged 20-34 tested positive for drugs than those aged 16-19 and 65 and older. And, drug-related fatal collisions were more common during nighttime hours and in vehicles with single occupants.

In an article headlined “Driver held in death of 1- year old “ reports a 1-year-old child playing outside their home in Lynnwood was fatally struck by a man suspected of driving under the influence of drugs Thursday evening, court records show.

We recommend employers meet with competent legal counsel to draft AND enforce a strong drug and alcohol test policy that will help prevent injury to the public, loss of reputation and even loss of the business.

James P. Randisi, President of Randisi & Associates, Inc., has been helping employers protect their clients, workforce and reputation through implementation of employment screening and drug testing programs since 1999. This post does not constitute legal advice. Randisi & Associates, Inc. is not a law firm. Always contact competent employment legal counsel. To learn more about the rights of employees who test positive for marijuana, Mr. Randisi can be contacted by phone at 410.336.0287 or Email: info@randisiandassociates.com or the website at randisiandassociates.com

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