Drug testing for cannabis — at what cost?
During my lifetime it has been the norm for many companies to test employees for evidence of drug use, including marijuana, and to terminate employment if a test comes back positive. I have personal experience with these terminations — the following is my story adapted from a piece I posted on LinkedIn.
For over 20 years I enjoyed a successful environmental permitting career. The companies I worked for were impressed with my motivation and drive, performance reviews were positive and I was rewarded with training opportunities, promotions, awards and bonuses. In one instance I was responsible for the permitting of a new uranium mine which provided 28 new jobs — an accomplishment I am still proud of.
These achievements came despite my battle with mental illness. I have PTSD. I’m constantly waiting for a shoe to drop and I often feel panic over some unidentified crisis. I also have bipolar disorder and ADHD. The bipolar disorder comes with intermittent debilitating mood problems. My moods can go from flying high and grandiose to dark depression in short order. I’ve had insomnia for days and exercised terrible judgment in my personal choices. With ADHD I forget what I’m doing sometimes mid act or get distracted by my own internal dialogue. I’ve taken medications for these conditions since the early 1990s and, for the most part, they help me stay in the range of “normal.”
However successful I was at staying well and remaining on a good career track, even persisting 18 years to complete a bachelor’s degree, my permitting career was effectively ended because I chose to self-medicate my PTSD-related anxiety with marijuana. I was terminated from one job for failing a random drug test (THC) and at another job I was terminated for refusing to take a drug test. In each case, I knew the rules and that this could happen. However, the benefits I received from the emotional pain relief outweighed my fear of termination.
I have since retired to a writing career and am no longer subject to drug testing requirements. My medicinal marijuana card has been approved by my doctor eight years running. Looking back, I wonder if the company’s management who chose these zero-tolerance policies believe that they were fair or effective. (My immediate management team was kind and supportive.) I wonder if they now believe it was wasteful to have let me go after collectively investing over $100,000 on my training, college education, and leadership development — because I smoked a plant on my own time.
Insurance companies talk about the issue of “safety-sensitive” positions and being “fit for duty.” However, it is the nature of marijuana that THC remains in fat cells long after someone is “high,” so a positive test at work says nothing of when the consumption occurred. And the same companies who fire for marijuana use turn a blind eye to abusers of prescription drugs and employees hungover from excessive drinking. Is this reasonable?
Attitudes about marijuana are changing. People are learning about its benefits for treating pain, epilepsy, and many other conditions. More states are allowing it, our own state of New Mexico recently legalized recreational marijuana, and some states have even written employment protections into the law. I hope government and industry will soon understand the relative safety and usefulness of medical marijuana and craft new rules that are fair to all workers who have much to offer their employers. What are your thoughts or experiences?