The state of Michigan is considering dropping pre-employment drug testing requirements for marijuana.
Currently, qualified employees who fail a drug test for marijuana are then barred from applying for another state job for three years.
In May, the Michigan Civil Service Commission proposed a rule change that would drop pre-employment drug testing for marijuana. There are exceptions for certain designated jobs like state police troopers and drivers of commercial vehicles.
“If approved, they would not impact current testing policies applicable to test-designated positions or those applicable to employees, nor would they change current prohibitions on an employee’s use of drugs while on duty or reporting for or being on duty with a prohibited level of drugs present in the employee’s bodily fluids,” the commission said in a statement.
According to Quest Diagnostics, a national lab company, marijuana use among U.S. workers reached historic highs last year. They analyzed over 6 million general workforce urine tests and found 4.3% tested positive for marijuana. That’s up from 3.9% in 2021.
That represents the highest number of marijuana-positive test results ever recorded by Quest Diagnostics since it started analyzing data in 1988.
Comments on the proposed amendments may be emailed to MCSC-OGC@mi.gov or sent to Office of the General Counsel, Michigan Civil Service Commission, P.O. Box 30002, Lansing, Michigan, 48909. Comments must be received by June 23, 2023.
Commissioners declined to be interviewed for this story because they do not want to influence public comment. The commission will review public feedback at their July 12 meeting.
Recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and older has been legal in Michigan since 2018. Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level and is still classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
Schedule 1 drugs are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and high potential abuse. Other Schedule 1 drugs are heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.