Jim Swart, the DOTâs director of the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, said in a written announcement Monday, Dec. 3, that heâs been asked multiple times about whether recent initiatives by Colorado and Washington to legalize the recreational use of marijuana have impacted the DOTâs regulations, and in the announcement, Swart says that DOT regulations prohibit all uses of marijuana, including medical, and that state initiatives will have âno bearingâ on the DOTâs drug testing program.
DOT Medical Review Officers âwill not verify a drug test as negative based upon learning that the employee used ârecreational marijuanaâ when states have passedâ such measures, Swart says in the announcement. Moreover, officers âwill not verify a drug test negative based upon information that a physician recommended that the employee use âmedical marijuanaâ when states have passedâ those measures, either.
âIt remains unacceptable for any safety-sensitive employee subject to dug testing under the Department of Transportationâs drug testing regulations to use marijuana,â the announcement concludes.
Read Swartâs announcement here.
