Washington — Following action by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify state-licensed medical marijuana, American Trucking Associations Vice President of Safety Policy Brenna Lyles issued this statement:
“We are reviewing DEA's announcement and assessing what near- and long-term impacts it could have on USDOT’s drug and alcohol testing program. The American Trucking Associations does not take a formal position on marijuana legalization. However, we are concerned about the safety risks of rescheduling it without clear safeguards to preserve USDOT’s testing authority for safety-sensitive workers.
“A safe driver is a qualified driver. And a qualified driver is drug- and alcohol-free. As we've seen with recent events and the increase in enforcement from USDOT, it's critically important that drivers of 80,000-pound vehicles are unimpaired and fit to operate that equipment.
“Absent clear protections for USDOT’s marijuana testing authority, a policy shift could undermine the Department’s drug- and alcohol-testing program and weaken highway safety. That risk is compounded by the lack of a reliable, widely accepted standard to measure marijuana impairment, whether roadside or before a driver gets behind the wheel.
“We appreciate USDOT’s continued focus on safety and efforts to strengthen driver qualification and enforcement standards. Now it must work with HHS, DOJ, and Congress to ensure any policy change preserves the authority, tools, and technical capacity needed to keep impaired and unqualified drivers off our roads.”
For years, ATA has led efforts to mitigate the public safety risk posed by marijuana due to policy changes at the state and federal levels. In August, ATA sent a letter to USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy to push for safeguards to the testing authority and technical requirements that apply to USDOT-regulated, safety-sensitive workers.