Articles Discussing Drugs & Alcohol In The Workplace.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published data on May 11, 2022 concluding that drug overdoses in 2021 reached the highest levels on record.  CDC stated that an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2021, largely driven by opioids.  This figure is a

The last few years have provided numerous reasons for employers to reevaluate drug testing practices—from the rapid development of job protections for medical and recreational marijuana use, to the increase in drug testing-based litigation, to pandemic-related remote work, to staffing challenges. Ogletree Deakins’ April 2022 report, Strategies and Benchmarks for

Yes, in almost every U.S. jurisdiction an employer can ask workers who appear to be impaired or otherwise in violation of the employer’s drug and alcohol testing policy to submit to a reasonable suspicion drug test. Even in jurisdictions that authorize the use of marijuana and marijuana products for medical or recreational reasons, the laws permit employers to discipline workers who come to work impaired.

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed the House of Representatives on April 1, 2022. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, the bill would clear marijuana-related convictions from people’s records and remove marijuana from the federal controlled substances list. The bill specifically prohibits the denial

According to a new Quest Diagnostic Study analyzing workplace drug test results in 2021, employers saw the highest rate of positive drug test results in twenty years. The study was based on more than 11 million urine, hair and oral fluid drug tests collected during calendar year 2021.  Of the

Manufacturers that conduct workplace drug and alcohol testing must be careful when addressing drug test results and employee disclosures of prescription medication use, especially as drug use has surged across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published in the Federal Register on February 28, 2022 a notice of proposed rulemaking for oral fluid drug testing of transportation employees covered by federal regulations.  DOT stated that the addition of oral fluid drug testing will give employers a choice to help combat

While employers in the transportation industry are acutely aware of the effects COVID-19 has imposed over the last 18 months, another phenomenon has been making itself known: the ever-increasing tally of states and localities across the country legalizing cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes. A majority of states now have enacted laws that permit patients suffering from debilitating illnesses to access and use medical cannabis.  As of this writing, nineteen states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, have also legalized recreational cannabis consumption. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public safety alert on September 27, 2021 to warn Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine.  Calling its public safety campaign “One Pill Can Kill,” the DEA’s first public safety alert in six

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued warnings to the public regarding the potential health risks of using Delta-8 THC products on September 14, 2021.

The FDA’s latest consumer update,  5 Things To Know About Delta-8 Tetrahydrocannabinol – Delta-8 THC, begins with

As previous pieces I have written for this blog demonstrate, I am a huge track and field fan, so much so that I listen to multiple track-related podcasts, watch meets on television whenever I can, and once got embarrassingly excited when I came across sprinter Mike Rodgers DJing in an

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a “Clearinghouse Update” on May 27, 2021 reminding commercial motor vehicle drivers who are regulated by the FMCSA that they should exercise caution when considering whether to use hemp and cannabidiol (CBD) products.  Specifically, the update stated that it

As Judge Richard A. Licht (quoting a slightly more famous source) said in a 2017 court opinion: “I get high with a little help from my friends.” Four years later, employers may be asking themselves which of their employees are getting high and what can they do about it. States

In November 2020, voters in five states (Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota) voted in favor of legalizing medical and/or recreational marijuana. Since then, there have been several developments within the marijuana legalization world that employers may want to keep an eye on as they move forward in

We would all be excused for wanting 2020 to disappear in a fog of medical marijuana. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of a very busy year for Ogletree Deakins Drug Testing Practice Group.