Which industries test workers most often for cannabis?

Workplace drug testing has slowed over time — and the legalization of marijuana. Still, some industries are more likely to require it from their workers, creating a problem, especially now that marijuana is mainstream and some states have legal medical marijuana programs.

Per Marijuana Moment, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (LBS) has released a work report that measures companies’ responses to the pandemic. It goes into detail about drug testing practices and the types of companies that are more likely to have these requirements.

RELATED: How Cannabis Legalization Is Transforming the American Workplace

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The report is the first since 1996 to ask employers whether they test for drugs. Predictably, the numbers have changed, with only 16% of workplaces surveyed conducting drug testing. In 1996, 30% of workplaces surveyed conducted drug testing.

The survey found that the industries more likely to ask for drug testing include transportation and warehousing, at far higher rates than other industries. Among the companies with the lowest drug testing rates were those involved in arts, entertainment and recreation.

The LBS also found that drug testing was less common in legalized states, showing that the laws had an impact on the mentality of the people who lived there. Eight out of 10 states with the lowest drug testing rates had legal cannabis programs, including California, Vermont, New York and Colorado. Of the 10 states with the highest drug testing rates, none had a legal cannabis program. This includes South Carolina, Kentucky and others.

Drug testing in the workplace is a practice that became popular under the Reagan administration, at a time when the war on drugs was beginning. As the years have passed and new research has emerged, the view of marijuana has changed drastically, with the majority of people losing their fear of it and even preaching for its legalization.

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RELATED: Will drug testing for weed eventually go away forever?

Marijuana legalization is inevitable. Though the process is slow, it has only grown in support as more states decriminalize and work towards building a working industry that is profitable and gives people what they want. Drug testing in the workplace is one of the last issues that should be resolved in the years to come. Eventually it will go away, but for now people have to be careful.