Drug testing in Michigan is not a problem for most government employees

Due to a rule change that went into effect Sunday, most government agencies in Michigan will no longer require prospective employees to be tested for cannabis. The changes also offer people who have already been denied employment due to positive THC drug tests the opportunity to have the sanctions retroactively removed. The rule change was first proposed to the Michigan Civil Service Commission on May 12 by John Gnodtke, the state’s human resources director.

At a July 12 meeting, the Michigan Civil Service Commission agreed to proposed new changes and adopted rule changes to allow the removal of active sanctions for some applicants who tested positive for cannabis on drug tests since 2020.

“If a drug test is required, an hiring authority shall require a test for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and phencyclidine, except that a marijuana test for a pre-employment drug test for a new employee in a position that is not tested was not permitted and cannot be used to revoke a conditional offer of employment for such a position,” the amended rule states. “Before an agency requires testing for other drugs, it must first obtain written approval from the director. A request must include the agency’s proposed initial testing methods, testing levels, and performance testing program. When carrying out a reasonable suspicion or post-accident investigation, a public authority may require testing for any medicinal product listed in Schedules 1 or 2.”

Commissioner Nick Ciaramitaro said the change was necessary to comply with Michigan’s adult-use cannabis law, which was passed in a statewide vote in 2018. Voters also legalized medical cannabis a decade earlier with the approval of the state’s 2008 ballot proposal.

“Whether we agree with it or not is kind of out of the question,” Ciaramitaro told MLive. “Using marijuana in the workplace is different than using it months before the test… It makes no sense to limit our ability to hire qualified people because they took a gummy bear two weeks ago.”

Michigan residents made the decision to “treat marijuana, recreational marijuana, similarly to alcohol,” Commission Chairman Jase Bolger said.

Two years ago, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sent a legal opinion to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Appeals Commission arguing that workers fired for off-the-job cannabis use were still technically entitled to unemployment benefits under state law have state.

“Marijuana was not consumed in the workplace or on the employer’s premises, nor did it affect the employee during work hours,” Nessel’s office said in a statement at the time.

“The people spoke loud and clear when they voted to legalize marijuana once and for all in 2018,” Nessel said. “No one over the age of 21 can be penalized or denied any rights or privileges solely for the legal use of marijuana, and employers cannot control the personal lives of their employees by labeling the legal use of marijuana outside of work hours as ‘misconduct.’

Nessel’s argument appears to hold up and goes beyond unemployment benefits.

Positive THC drug tests in the workplace reach all-time high

A key reason for updating drug testing policies is that they fail at all to prevent applicants from quitting smoking. According to an analysis, failed drug tests for THC reached a record high just a few months ago.

Drug testing after workplace accidents reached an all-time high in 2022, according to a drug testing index analysis from Quest Diagnostics released May 18. Last year, 7.3% of workforce drug urine samples contained cannabis, compared to 6.7% of workers in 2021. Quest Diagnostics says it has seen a steady increase in cannabis positivity following accidents since 2012, with recent There has been a 204.2% increase in employees testing positive for cannabis over 10 years. Between 2002 and 2009, positive test results after accidents declined.

The report shows that cannabis was the main reason workers’ drug tests came back positive, but other substances such as amphetamines also contributed to the increase, with cannabis increasing by 10.3% and amphetamines increasing by 15.4%. In 2022, the industries most likely to see an increase in positive workplace drug tests were accommodation and food services (7%), retail (7.7%), and finance and insurance (3.6%).

In September 2022, New Jersey regulators issued an Employment Guide to Cannabis Regulations in the Workplace, which is intended to “support employers’ rights to create and maintain safe work environments and affirm employees’ rights to due process.”

Changes are also taking place at the federal level. In February 2021, the Biden administration announced a new policy that would allow applicants to be hired even if they had previously used cannabis. “White House policy will maintain the absolute highest standards of government service that the President expects of his administration, while recognizing the reality that state and local marijuana laws have improved significantly across the country in recent years have changed,” the policy states.