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2019 INDUSTRY RESOURCE DIRECTORY
Pot is popular and the issue is real. Recreational marijuana was legalized in
Colorado in 2014. Since then it has also become legal in Alaska, California,
Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the District of
Columbia. Medical marijuana is now legal in 29 states and the District of
Columbia. A Gallup poll from late 2017 last year indicates a 64% approval
for legalization overall, and for the first time, 51% of conservative voters also
approve.
1
According to an April 2017 poll by Yahoo News and Marist College,
more than half of Americans have tried the stuff, and 35 million are regular users.
2
In May 2018 the annual Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index showed that
marijuana use is up among federally mandated safety-sensitive workers such as
truck drivers, and employers are being faced with more causes to require a test.
3
Positive tests among these workers, which include truck drivers, were up nearly
8% in states where marijuana has been legalized.
All of this would present a challenge for employers even if service technicians
were falling from heaven—training and hiring costs are not cheap. In the present
environment, though, it presents nightmares. There is a significant shortage of
truck drivers in general, and the headaches that go along with legalized pot only
make the challenge of staffing your company with reliable and competent drivers
more difficult.
An August 2017 article published by Trucks.com, notes that more trucking
companies and commercial driver's license schools are telling candidates not
to fill out applications if they're going to test positive.
4
Even with that caveat,
the article says that failure rates are still as high as 60 percent, according to
Greg Fulton, president of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association. So it is plain
that these headaches for drivers' employers are not imagined and will not be
going away any time soon. That's because federal law forbids both medical and
recreational consumption of marijuana. Any portable sanitation company with
drivers and trucks that fall under federal Department of Transportation
In June 2018 voters in Oklahoma passed a measure that legalized the use of marijuana. Its
supporters touted it as a bill allowing the use of pot for "medicinal" purposes. On Sunday,
July 1, 2018, recreational use of marijuana in Vermont became legal, adding to a growing list
of states that allow their residents to take a toke of doob whenever they feel like it. While this
might be good news for the people who make Doritos, it spells hassle for portable sanitation
companies. Whether the possession and use of pot is allowed in your state or not, drivers are
not allowed to have it in their systems if they operate your trucks.
Case Study: Legal Marijuana and the Portable Sanitation Industry
1
news.gallup.com/poll/221018/record-high-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx
2
www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/19/11-charts-that-show-marijuana-has-truly-gone-mainstream/
?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e346fcf196ea
3
www.questdiagnostics.com/home/physicians/health-trends/drug-testing.html
4
www.trucks.com/2017/08/14/trucking-contemplates-pot-legalization/
Vehicle and Driver Safety
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