Washington — Federal motion geared toward easing restrictions on marijuana beneath the Controlled Substances Act might jeopardize federally required drug testing for employees in safety-sensitive jobs, the National Transportation Safety Board warns.
On May 21, the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a discover of proposed rulemaking with the intent to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III managed substance from Schedule I. Although the transfer wouldn’t legalize marijuana on the federal degree, it will change its classification to a drug with “lower degree of abuse potential” and “a moderate to low level of physical dependence,” the discover states.
Cannabis has lengthy been a Schedule I substance prohibited beneath federal regulation, categorized with medicine together with heroin, LSD, ecstasy and peyote.
Because the federal authorities checks safety-sensitive employees for under Schedule I or II managed substances, NTSB is worried that the transfer might compromise the protection of airline pilots, airline upkeep employees, air site visitors controllers, bus and truck drivers, and personnel transporting hazardous supplies, amongst others.
Moving marijuana to a Schedule III substance, NTSB asserts in a July 23 press launch, ought to require steps to guarantee marijuana testing stays inside the scope of pre-employment, random, affordable suspiscion and post-incident drug testing. Without these steps, the company says, a security “blind spot” is certain to kind.
The American Trucking Associations, which represents employers, opposes the proposed rule, saying the modifications “may have considerable negative consequences.”
