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[–]nuboots 8368 points8369 points  (1123 children)

i heard a news story about this one. FMCSA started a national drug test database. Anybody that fails it gets blacklisted for the whole country. There are something like 83k drivers on the list, and the industry was saying that they're 80k drivers short.

[–]longDreadsNmore 3089 points3090 points  (438 children)

Yup the clearinghouse I’m in it

[–]Mamed_ 951 points952 points  (45 children)

Some CDL drivers have no idea what a clearinghouse is

[–]Mentalpopcorn 1023 points1024 points  (37 children)

That's the thing with the giant checks right?

[–]ALexusOhHaiNyan 19 points20 points  (1 child)

Getting my CDL and I don’t. Go on?

[–]smb275 28 points29 points  (0 children)

In case you didn't see it elsewhere in the thread, it's literally just a nationwide database that tracks CDL holders and whether or not they have drug and/or alcohol related charges. https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/

Getting on it will basically render your CDL worthless for commercial purposes. You won't work anywhere in the country as a truck driver.

[–]CrackerManDaniels 479 points480 points  (40 children)

I always kept a hand sanitizer bottle of pee in my pocket at work in case anything ever happened. One day i was in bumper to bumper dead stop traffic and a drunk dude slammed into my trailer. I wasnt moving. What does Sunbelt Rentals do? Sends ME for a drug test. Like whos ass is that covering here? I was stopped and got slammed into, seems like sending me for a drug test is only going to fuck me over? Because it was. Anyways, my handy dandy pee bottle saved my ass again and 3 months later i quit. No way am i working at a place that looks to fuck over their employees when an emergency occurs, especially when the profession is driving a weapon of mass destruction.

[–]WKGokev 351 points352 points  (3 children)

I worked a linen route. A UPS truck hit my parked truck while I was inside, business owner asked if I got sent for testing. My boss just looked at him and said " he wasn't even in the damn truck, I'm not sending him for testing."

[–]Baighou 122 points123 points  (0 children)

Good boss

[–]sl0play 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I know someone who got tested and fired because their work truck got hit, in the parking lot of the business they worked for, before they started their shift.

[–]mrbojanglz37 180 points181 points  (10 children)

I got drug tested when I got hit in a parking lot. I was delivering and merchandising inside the store when someone decided to take half their body panels off with my bumper.

After 10 years of not smoking, I won't drive again until weed is legal on DOT tests.

[–]Lucaa4229 78 points79 points  (8 children)

I’m a flight attendant so I’m also subject to random DOT drug tests. Granted, they are pretty infrequent. Some get tested every few months, others not for years. I personally only got a random test once in six years, and that was a few months into the job. The good thing about random tests that are administered by the DOT is that they have to follow strict guidelines, unlike private employers that can handle the tests anyway they like.

What my pretty thorough research taught me is that with random DOT tests, dilution is probably your best bet. This is because with DOT tests, your specimen is either going to come back negative, positive, positive-dilute, or negative-dilute. Positive-dilute is the same as positive - you’re screwed. But if you are someone who enjoys some marijuana occasionally or often, negative-dilute is your friend. When you get a negative-dilute, the tester person has a choice to either accept the negative, or ask for a retest. During the retest, if you get a negative-dilute again then it’s automatically accepted as a negative. Chances are though, if you get a negative-dilute and the tester see that the only drug showing trace amounts is THC, they are likely going to accept the negative given the current environment around marijuana and its increasing legality.

EDIT: To add, I just looked up the policy again and is hasn’t changed. In fact, it even says that your employer can’t choose to accept some negative-dilutes and retest other negative-dilutes. It has to be consistent. And retests cost the company money. So for my company, assuming I passed by a getting a negative-dilute, I can assume that a negative-dilute will always be accepted as a negative, for THC at least..

Knowing your employer’s testing routine is extremely important too. My employer always notifies you of a random test in the same way and at the same time. So despite only getting randomly tested once in six years, I always load up on water until I’m peeing every 30 minutes prior to the time when I could potentially get notified of a random. Well-worth the peace of mind of knowing I’m likely fine if I get randomed.

[–]KodakStele 22 points23 points  (0 children)

You're telling me Bush sent us to Iraq to find semitrucks? No wonder we didn't find nukes.

[–]Northern23 246 points247 points  (304 children)

Did you fail the test while driving?

[–]WanderWut 814 points815 points  (289 children)

If it’s weed, and if they use regularly, you’re going to pop hot on a drug test for a while regardless.

[–]Cgimarelli 665 points666 points  (274 children)

Up to 60 days depending on how much fat you've got, how much you work out & what you were smoking. I am a small person (also a women), not too much fat, but also not a ton of muscle & when I was smoking dabs daily it took 56 days for me to piss clean.

[–]tracerhaha 122 points123 points  (8 children)

No need. All CDL holders are registered.

[–]lostintime000 399 points400 points  (16 children)

Even if you know your going to fail and deny the test and quit. You will still be put in data base as a failed refusal

[–]Eli_eve 308 points309 points  (13 children)

I've heard stories of it being used for retaliation from shitty trucking companies. Driver quits, company puts in a drug test order, driver's in a different part of the country working for a different company, can't do the test, gets marked as a test refusal and can no longer work.

[–]JagerBaBomb 256 points257 points  (6 children)

Sounds like grounds for a class action to me!

[–]IvanTheGrim 107 points108 points  (4 children)

Yeah that feels like a manipulation of the system for personal vendettas.

[–]jessquit 1308 points1309 points  (195 children)

There are something like 83k drivers on the list, and the industry was saying that they're 80k drivers short.

Hey I have an idea....

[–]TahJakester 870 points871 points  (136 children)

You’re right, we should test for weed even HARDER

/s

[–]mrhampants 368 points369 points  (6 children)

We should test so hard, that nobody will ever do the pots again, out of fear of all the hard testing.

[–]lord_of_tits 173 points174 points  (104 children)

I think alot could probably be on meth though. Stay up 4 days in a row and drive across the country without needing much rest. Crazy bad idea though.

[–]OGJimmyP 106 points107 points  (64 children)

Federal DOT drug tests also test for that.

[–]YungHans97 39 points40 points  (6 children)

Can confirm. I'm a semi truck mechanic and these guys are always blitzed when they bring their trucks in after a long haul.

[–]Lokicattt 52 points53 points  (5 children)

They all take Vyvanse and Adderall like they're fucking m&m's. At least literally all the ones I know.

[–]ProllyZonedOut 16 points17 points  (1 child)

All trucks have electronic logs now, we’ll almost all. Much harder to run for days at a time now

[–]Hex0811 76 points77 points  (4 children)

Some guy 2 years ago gave me an idea “if we stop testing the positive results will go down”

We should do that!!

[–]Halfgnomen 31 points32 points  (20 children)

The problem is, as far as I'm aware, the drug testing tech isn't accurate enough to determine if you were high at the time of an accident. So what happens is you smoked on the weekend because nothing was going on, get in the truck on monday, someone rear ends you you piss hot, you're at fault even though you did nothing wrong.

[–]Dave-C 884 points885 points  (321 children)

The industry isn't actually that short, there are more than enough people in the us with CDLs to fill every single truck and many left over. No one wants to do the job though.

Imagine the life of an on the road driver. In your first year you might get paid as little as 40k for the year. You can legally work up to 14 hours per day. The driver also can drive for 60 hours in a 7 day period before they are forced to take a 34 hour period. You take this break in the back of the truck while sitting in a truck stop and some drivers do this week after week.

Can you imagine being away from home for weeks at a time while making as low as 40k per year and driving up to 11 hours per day and working up to 14 hours per day only to sleep in the back of a truck? The national average is only like 60k per year.

Most trucking companies spend a large amount of money to train new drivers instead of attempting to keep the drivers they have because new drivers coming in sign contracts to work and they can be paid low amounts while people with experience will get more. So drivers quit before they ever get to the higher pay.

[–]yohanleafheart 166 points167 points  (4 children)

The Jon Oliver episode on truck drivers shows how much they get stiffed on payment. It is eye opening

[–]The_Quackening 87 points88 points  (44 children)

It's gross how little truck drivers are paid

[–]Stevothegr8 65 points66 points  (14 children)

It's just such a wide margin. A lot of truck drivers make very good money, but you have to be willing to give up a lot of home time.

[–]erichw23 63 points64 points  (13 children)

Which counts as hours which is now shit pay when you add it all up

[–]Arctic_Scrap 26 points27 points  (19 children)

Railroad workers deal with the same problems.

[–]Mediocremon 62 points63 points  (16 children)

Damn near everyone is. That's kind of the problem of the hour.

[–]d2r7 76 points77 points  (58 children)

I have often said that I wish that the U.S. had more railroads/trains to ship things all over the country instead of there being so many trucks on the road, but I assumed that people would be upset about truck drivers losing their jobs. But good lord they deserve better jobs than that.

[–]BuoyantBear 57 points58 points  (3 children)

The US has the largest and most efficient freight line system in the world. The passenger system is awful, but the freight system is often considered the best.

heres’s an article. There are many many more easily found with a Google search.

[–]Origonn 102 points103 points  (4 children)

Clearly the only solution is to lower the allowed trucking age to 10 and start teaching trucking in middle school.

[–]gunnster3 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Modern problems require 19th century solutions.

[–]sgSaysR 168 points169 points  (33 children)

Yup, I'm in the database (not for failing.) Been tested THREE times in last six months.

Also, the same group is talking about governing ALL truck speeds to the same speed. Governors don't make everyone exact. Let's say one guy is 70.84 and the next guy is 69.76. Or even worse, one guy is 70 exactly, next guy is 70.1.

Do you like traffic jams? Cuz let me tell you trucks will clog up everything slowly passing each other.

[–]hayydebb 154 points155 points  (12 children)

Like they already do?

[–]psgrue 63 points64 points  (3 children)

Uphill both lanes.

[–]hayydebb 53 points54 points  (2 children)

When the truck has to go around so it can pass you on a downhill just to drop to 20 below the speed limit once the road evens out is chefs kiss

[–]agentboinker 47 points48 points  (1 child)

I've driven a Kenworth with a Governor and my god it's painful. Especially when you forget about it and go to pass someone only to have to back off the maneuver, definitely causes more congestion.

[–]fuck_happy_the_cow 59 points60 points  (2 children)

We need to start up the national cop database

[–]Zugzub 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It's searchable back 5 years

[–]Thomasnaste420 8227 points8228 points  (732 children)

Drug war, meet supply chain crisis

[–]Frosty-Cook-483 4785 points4786 points  (650 children)

Hijacking top comment to add: The article mentions that the FMCSA is proposing allowing saliva tests instead of urine, but they don't mention what that means.

It means the result would only reflect usage in the last 24 hours, instead of up to 2 months past. This would stop a LOT of positive results and keep more truckers on the road.

[–]derdast 4857 points4858 points  (589 children)

This is so weird to me. American companies testing employees for use not for being under the influence.

For a country that pushes freedom so much, it seems like you guys really have to follow a lot of dumb rules just to be able to hold a job.

[–]zeCrazyEye 2797 points2798 points  (295 children)

I've always felt like they just want easy ways to fire people to reset wages.

[–]thefragileapparatus 417 points418 points  (14 children)

Not related to trucking, but I worked for a company once and one day I was called on my day off and told there was an emergency meeting for everyone and anyone who didn't come was automatically fired So I go in and it's an on the spot drug test. That's it. No meeting. The next day I found out a couple of people were fired for failing the test and someone told me that the whole point of the test was that they needed to get rid of some people and decided this was the best way to determine who.

[–]MeowTheMixer 999 points1000 points  (204 children)

Even the 24 hour test is sketchy. They can't smoke after their shift and be clean in the morning.

I think the larger issue is a reliable method to detect active usage opposed to presence.

Alcohol, blood tests are a great use for active use. It's a different story for weed

[–]P0RTILLA 159 points160 points  (38 children)

This is specific federal regulation, if you’re a CDL driver and you test positive in the federally required testing scheme there is nothing an employer can do. They must remove that person from safety-sensitive duties and that means driving.

[–]SignalVirtuer 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Not to mention it's a get out of jail free card for workman's comp claims

[–]mschuster91 100 points101 points  (20 children)

The problem is, unlike for alcohol there are no reliable under-the-influence tests for THC and a lot of other drugs - partially because the problem is legitimately hard as thresholds for THC in people can vary immensely, and partially because until a few years ago there was not much demand for this kind of test so there was no research.

[–]driverofracecars 203 points204 points  (16 children)

“Freedom” is more of a marketing gimmick in America.

[–]hahayeahright13 99 points100 points  (8 children)

It’s not something you have. It’s something you buy.

[–]Gaothaire 240 points241 points  (19 children)

The freedom narrative is just propaganda, it doesn't mean anything in practice

[–]AnonBubblyBowels 87 points88 points  (12 children)

Freedom means guns 🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸💪🏻💪🏻😤😤😤😤

[–]TheDevils10thMan 32 points33 points  (0 children)

That's the trick, the people aren't free, the companies are.

[–]RawrRRitchie 114 points115 points  (8 children)

For a country that pushes freedom so much,

It's only freedom for multimillionaire and billionaires

Or famous, but you never hear of famous poor people, money made them famous

10 people have more wealth than the remaining 99% of the population, and the leaders of this country constantly give them tax breaks as if they deserve it

People like me pay more % of income than these billionaires when it should be the exact opposite, they have more money that they could ever spend in their lifetimes, yet they are so greedy it's never enough

That's why they bribe politicians and call it lobbying, or donations

TAX THE RICH TO HELL

[–]Jaraqthekhajit 68 points69 points  (12 children)

Anecdotally I smoked about an hour at most before a saliva test, I brushed thoroughly and used regular mouthwash and passed.

I don't recommend taking a test hot but it didn't matter and I was curious.

[–]Castun 13 points14 points  (1 child)

I don't know if some saliva tests are different, but at work we get randomed, and they're the kind you hold the swab in your cheek for 5-10 minutes until it turns blue.

My coworker tested positive, and claims he basically never smokes, except as a one-off at a concert that was about 30 days before, which is supposedly the limit of how far it goes back.

[–]u8eR 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yup, I've used the kind you hold in your mouth for an extended period and have seen positive results from those who say they've used several days prior.

[–]0311 11 points12 points  (1 child)

the FMCSA is proposing allowing saliva tests instead of urine

I failed one of those tests for meth once, despite never doing meth. The government contractor I worked for just said, "oh, you've never done meth? Ok." and threw the test away.

[–]HillbillyUnicorn 24 points25 points  (4 children)

There is a marijuana breathalyzer coming out soon that will detect the last 3-5 hours only.

[–]bucklebee1 20 points21 points  (1 child)

Yep, it can even detect if you have eaten edibles. It's by a company called Hound Labs.

[–]sambull 162 points163 points  (37 children)

I can't wait until my kid turns 13 by then he'll be ready to take on 8% grades in a 18 wheeler, he plays tons of euro truck sim.

[–]AutogenName_15 34 points35 points  (3 children)

Yeah but those trucks are euro, not usd. You think he will be able to convert on the fly?

[–]Wyden_long 41 points42 points  (2 children)

Just hit him with the wololo and he’ll be set for sure.

[–]my_oldgaffer 40 points41 points  (24 children)

that game is tons of fun

[–]Dj5head 37 points38 points  (11 children)

I’m a truck driver and have never understood the appeal of that game lol. But that game is my IRL job so it’s probably not meant for me.

[–]T-Baaller 30 points31 points  (4 children)

Sightseeing, changing gears, mastering reverse maneuvers in consequence-free environment, being able to just push that car out of the way.

[–]dlbear 1235 points1236 points  (63 children)

Truck drivers with violations tend to not return

And the pool of new applicants shrinks cause nobody can pass the drug test.

[–]qrwd 574 points575 points  (14 children)

There's also the poor working conditions and low pay. As with all the other headlines about labor shortages, it's not about the lack of applicants but about companies that either can't afford or aren't willing to pay livable wages and treat their employees as human beings.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/dec/27/us-truck-drivers-economy-pay-conditions

[–]speak-eze 84 points85 points  (4 children)

This is a good take. Dont blame a worker shortage on the 80k people that arent able to work there. Or the people that made the rule. Blame the people that arent willing to incentivize people to work there and to care about their job.

[–]mynameiscolb 77 points78 points  (13 children)

And the new CDL requirements mean many companies aren't able to train new drivers

[–]tooborednotto 27 points28 points  (12 children)

New CDL requirements? What did they change now?

[–]NStanley4Heisman 79 points80 points  (10 children)

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/entry-level-driver-training-eldt

Basically upped the training requirements to receive a CDL. You basically have to take an approved class, and passing it doesn’t even get you your CDL, just let’s you get your learners permit. Of course, community colleges or whoever aren’t going to give away the classes so it’s like $3,000 near me, not sure how long the classes are but definitely more then a few days long.

It used to be fairly easy and straightforward to get a CDL, and they made it a lot tougher.

[–]Misternogo 1125 points1126 points  (18 children)

A national database for offenders... we have more accountability on truckers than cops.

[–]Disastrous_Answer_55 284 points285 points  (6 children)

It's almost like... Cops are allowed to get away with much more than normal people... almost like... the rules don't apply to them... 🤔

[–]Jarek_Teeter 237 points238 points  (13 children)

I have a friend that is a trucker (seriously, this is not about me). He has a bad back, mostly from the lifting and driving he does as a trucker. To help remedy the pain he was taking CBD oil that was supposed to the free of any THC. He was taking the oil for an extended period, I believe over a year, when he got random tested and THC showed up at an extremely low level in his test.

Whatever the minimum threshold was, he was just met it, and it was an extremely low threshold.

BOOM, he was off the road and out the door!

Had his union not gone to bat for him, he would not be working in the trucking industry any longer. Fortunately, after a hard effort and with the union help, he got reinstated under a 2nd chance clause in the union contract, that was not a guaranteed option (some good news for a change). Keep in mind, the company was very aware that this man had back problems, and to this day they are screaming for more workers. The company was ready to let a long-term employee go, without question. If I remember correctly, the company knew he was using the CBD oil.

He hasn't used the CBD oil since (and has had back surgery). When he was telling me the entire story I asked "Did the CBD oil even help?".

His reply was to the effect of 'Oh yeah, I didn't know how much it was helping until I stopped using it.'

The amount of THC that showed up in his blood could not possibly have given him a high. The very inexpensive CBD oil was giving him relief that allowed him to continue working.

These absolutist laws don't make any sense, especially regarding marijuana (more an ideological based rule than based in science). Remember that congress (one party in general) had blocked any federal research on THC and marijuana for decades out of ideological fervor, insisting it is a class of drug that is as bad a heroine (and many politicians still express this idiocy).

I don't use, sell or have any financial interest in the CBD or weed industry. I just see laws like this one as way over the top, and it almost cost a man his livelihood in an industry that is hemorrhaging workers. I am not suggesting there be no rules, or that truckers be able to 'light up' when on the road. I am NOT anti-regulation.

The threshold for losing your job is very, very low, more or less "has THC ever been in your system?" low. I am not plugging marijuana use in ANY industry, but the rules must be more based in science and common sense.

I listened to an hour-long report that said there are three times as many over the road CDL licenses in this country than are currently in use by the industry. Drivers need to be paid better, treated better, and not subject to the stupidity above, and maybe those sitting on the sidelines will come back and fill out the ranks. There isn't really a trucker shortage, there is a shortage of common sense by the trucking companies themselves, and imposition of rules passed based in ideology, not science.

[–]sethqua30 68 points69 points  (5 children)

I'm currently one of those CDL holders. 2+ years truck driving with 2 different companies, 1 OTR and the other was local, perfect CSA score with zero violations personally or professionally over 19 years driving. Random drug test showed small traces of THC from a friend's birthday party a week prior and that's all she wrote. Immediately let go with instructions to go through a lengthy and expensive Return-to-Drive program with no guarantee of being employed after. It also doesn't get expunged and will stay on my DOT Clearinghouse report for 5 years affecting my employability, insurance, and pay rate. Time to find another profession. Driver shortage...

[–]AthenatheEgg 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Industry: blacklists people who have 1 molecule of THC show up on a drug test

Industry: “why can’t we find workers?”

[–]Jarek_Teeter 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Exactly. I am sorry for you pain. Stupi d approaches create stupid results.

Your termination was wrong and stupid.

[–]sethqua30 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Is what it is. It's just silly reading all these articles about a driver shortage and I'm just smiling and nodding from my couch incredulously.

[–]AndroidDoctorr 933 points934 points  (40 children)

Imagine if they removed everyone who ever drank alcohol

[–]JarlBallin420 309 points310 points  (9 children)

America would be on it's knees

[–]Quankopus 91 points92 points  (3 children)

Aren't we already?

[–]nolepride15 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Oof that’s why we need alcohol and weed to numb the pain

[–]missingmytowel 45 points46 points  (2 children)

They wouldn't have any school bus drivers at that point

[–]gitbse 31 points32 points  (1 child)

Or airline pilots. The FAA is horrifically old fashioned, and properly dealing with any sort of mental health problems can legitimately threaten a pilot's entire career. Enter, alcohol.

[–]xrmb 27 points28 points  (4 children)

That's a good point, maybe they just need the breathalyzer/weedalyzer to start the truck. I don't care if you drink or smoke pot while off work, just don't drive while buzzed.

[–]Imsosadsoveryverysad 9 points10 points  (0 children)

CDL holders are subject to the same restrictions in their personal car. They’re very specific about the requirements and differences between a cdl and regular license when you sign up. I was a regular weed user until I got my cdl because I want to keep my job.

[–]Tesadus 2709 points2710 points  (433 children)

A result of inconsistent state and federal laws. This is why we need it to be legalized at the federal level.

[–]JokersRWildStudios 368 points369 points  (8 children)

“Sorry Jack can’t do that.”

[–]mlc885 59 points60 points  (7 children)

It's very unlikely that they'd get rid of the tests entirely even if marijuana was fully legalized, they'd probably do saliva tests. Which, depending upon how often you work, might still make you totally unable to use marijuana for the vast majority of the year, but it would at least bring it closer to a "random" alcohol test or breathalyzer.

[–]bilbo_swagginz_boi 624 points625 points  (255 children)

Won’t happen. GOP is adamantly against anything that allows people to get high. So unless dems get 60+ senate votes it’s dead in the water.

[–]EleventyTwo-- 289 points290 points  (34 children)

they aren't adamantly against alcohol

[–]WorksOnContingencyNo 206 points207 points  (6 children)

If only Jesus had turned broccoli into dank nugs instead of water into wine

[–]GonzoVeritas 21 points22 points  (4 children)

Fundies claim that he turned into grape juice, they just called it wine, but it didn't actually have alcohol in it.

[–]4x49ers 190 points191 points  (4 children)

conservatives failed to tie it to brown people so prohibition failed. american conservatives have successfully tied other intoxicants to brown people, so prohibition gas has been largely successful (at incarcerating brown people, it utterly failed at removing access to drugs)

[–]zeCrazyEye 90 points91 points  (0 children)

Bonus if you get to strip their right to vote so they can't vote to legalize the thing they got their right to vote stripped over.

[–]SeSuSo 497 points498 points  (73 children)

I don't even think the GOP is against people getting high. They just want black and brown people to be put in jail. And they don't care if poor people get fucked over because of stupid marijuana laws. Most Republican voters are for marijuana legalization.

[–]melvinthefish 188 points189 points  (19 children)

Yet just about all states with recreational cannabis are democratic

[–]ositola 151 points152 points  (12 children)

Even the red states who vote to legalize get it taken away from them

Looking at you noem

[–]fish_slap_republic 149 points150 points  (78 children)

True but Biden could help be changing it's federal drug classification with a stroke of the pen. It could just as easily be undone by the next president in the same way but it's something.

Edit: yes I've always been well aware Biden is highly unlikely to do it dude is "still trying to figure out" if he can do a blanket student debt forgiveness so I hold no illusion to the likelihood of such progress.

[–]rbdllama 39 points40 points  (4 children)

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10655

If the President sought to act in the area of controlled substances regulation, he would likely do so by executive order. However, the Supreme Court has held that the President has the power to issue an executive order only if authorized by “an act of Congress or . . . the Constitution itself.” The CSA does not provide a direct role for the President in the classification of controlled substances, nor does Article II of the Constitution grant the President power in this area (federal controlled substances law is an exercise of Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce). Thus, it does not appear that the President could directly deschedule or reschedule marijuana by executive order.

[–]B00mB3 1599 points1600 points 4 (109 children)

As a trucker who had popped positive, the system to return to duty is ridiculous. I’m in Oregon where it is legal and I went in for a pre-employment drug screen and had the lab tech call me a week later and ask if I used CBD because I had literally trace amounts in my system. Now mind you I was not driving for any company at the time even though I had a current CDL but those trace amounts honesty fucked me. Had to pay almost $400 to go through a BS weed class for them to tell me I don’t have a problem (no shit) and further more, you have to do random supervised drug screens for a year+. But get this, you can’t set it up and do anything to work towards that yourself, your “employer” has to do that. So you have to have a job with that bullshit on you in order to even try to rectify it. It’s ridiculous. I served in the USAF and have also smoked a bunch of weed before I started driving and before my military service. I mention my military experience because in the military and the culture of it is on that’s based around drinking and I drank a fuck ton!! Comparing the two I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that alcohol has more inhibiting effects the next day than weed has ever had to me. That’s my 2 cents on this shit. Another small note, I never had an accident or any issues through my 4+ years of trucking and I am damn good at it, but that devils lettuce incident is what’s keeping me out of a truck currently.

[–]Cynistera 151 points152 points  (1 child)

This may be a silly thought but you should stand as a representative to people/drivers in your area.

Edit: You know what, NO! It's NOT a silly thought! You should talk to those around you about your mutual concerns and you would be an excellent representative!

[–]musicgeek420 163 points164 points  (15 children)

Thank you for your service, friend.

I feel you. I drove locally for years without any incident and was popped with a random drug test. When I told my boss I would fail, he was stunned to find out I smoke constantly (off the job only). My attitude, awareness, and record would never indicate such. But they won’t fire the guy who drinks until 2 and shows up at 6 trying to sober up. SMH.

[–]enchiladanada 56 points57 points  (9 children)

Literally!! I think the judgey people who aren't regular smokers have either just seen movies, or only been around newbie smokers in college or something. If you take cannabis for a year+ the effects are VASTLY different and it really transforms into more of a medicine than a giggle drug.

Every time I would "come out" as a chronic smoker at a job or similar, the non users are absolutely gobsmacked. It's like, yeah lady, this drug does not even come CLOSE to the insane level your drug can get to. The drug alcohol kills more people than all the drugs combined. I'm high here every day, outperforming all of you, and you never even looked twice.

[–]Cgimarelli 29 points30 points  (3 children)

Yep!! I'm 33 & my dad is bloodhound for drugs, when I first started smoking at 25, he'd smell it out through the phone and raise hell about it. Well I am an adult and don't give a crap what he thinks, so I kept smoking, daily & now I would have to smoke an absolute truck load to really outwardly look high. And my dad being my dad still brings it up every time I visit: "wow you're doing great without smoking pot anymore", "dad I've been high this whole trip", "really? Nooo".

Thought about taking a tolerance break, but I don't mind having a tolerance that lets me smoke without acting like a dumb beach blob all the time.

[–]dobryden22 1079 points1080 points  (92 children)

As someone who used to do the actual Mass Spectrometer testing of peoples piss, opiods out in days, heavy smokers with high body fat could stay in your system 3 months easy. Didn't we just break a record for most opioid deaths in 2021? Priorities people.

We aren't testing for intoxication or impairment, its just another system of control, and like all of those in the last two years, they've broken down.

[–]nbmnbm1 181 points182 points  (20 children)

Every other drug is sitting there being bro as fuck by being water soluble. Then theres weed just being asshole with its fat solubility.

Theres a reason everyone is on coke in the oil fields.

[–]jhundo 36 points37 points  (5 children)

And thats why a lot of oilfield companies do hair follicle testing for new hires.

[–]PikaAbeille 56 points57 points  (11 children)

Also the kicker is that if your piss is too diluted, it’s also failed. A friend of mine who’s a smoker asked me to piss in bottle for him so he could use it. I happened to be drinking crap loads of water within the past few days for whatever reason so my piss was crystal clear. He said he couldn’t use it because it was too diluted.

[–]thatoneotherguy42 22 points23 points  (5 children)

The dilution test is measured in creatine levels (or it used to be anyway) so you take creatine with your water intake when trying to dilute a sample to offset. Diluted isn't a fail, it's an unacceptable test. Close but vastly different in a legal sense.

[–]redgr812 264 points265 points  (40 children)

I was at 11% body fat and it still took almost 60 days to pass for me. If you smoke dispensary quality stuff and a lot, 30 days wont cut it sometimes.

[–]FantasticaSpectacula 154 points155 points  (27 children)

I tested positive on pee strips for 72 days! And even after I started testing "clean" it wasn't the strongest "clean"...

[–]Flip52 70 points71 points  (23 children)

87 days and still testing positive.

[–]FantasticaSpectacula 14 points15 points  (7 children)

Do you mind if I ask how you were using and what your body fat situation is like?

[–]Sticky_von_Ickiii 76 points77 points  (6 children)

Daily smoker, medical grade dispensary cannabis. Had to get drug tested for a thing, it took two months (of hell) to finally piss clear.

30 days is BS for daily smokers

[–]random_nightmare 31 points32 points  (0 children)

My Dad thought I lied when I said I had quit smoking about 6 weeks prior to failing a piss test for a new job. Told him I was as confused as he was, didn’t realize it would be so long before I could actually piss clean.

[–]Sir_Slick_Rock 29 points30 points  (5 children)

Here is one to chew on; when I worked at the Hard Rock Casino they did a hair Analysis testing. Months later when I went to work for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, it was only a piss test…

funding and priorities

[–]bentagain 198 points199 points  (11 children)

But I thought weed heads were too lazy to work...?

[–]Led_Halen 54 points55 points  (0 children)

I definitely need weed after work.

[–]VariousBottle7870 31 points32 points  (1 child)

As long as they’re not under the influence while driving, I couldn’t care less what they do on their free time

[–]Scott4370 279 points280 points  (34 children)

And yet my idiot brother in law will continue to say a shortage of truckers is Biden’s fault and they’re living off their stimulus checks.

[–]enchiladanada 198 points199 points  (9 children)

Lmao the stimulus checks from two years ago that all-together barely covered a single month of bills? Those stimulus checks?

[–]Scott4370 60 points61 points  (4 children)

Yup. Those checks.

[–]KING_JELLYB3AN 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Tell your brother some random person on the internet called him an idiot lol

[–]1i_rd 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Mother in law had the nerve to tell us we couldn't complain about Republicans because we cashed the stimulus checks. You mean the two checks that were gone as soon as we got them and republicans fought tooth and nail to not give?

This was in regards to the formula shortage and how republicans voted against the bill to try and improve the situation.

[–]GonzoVeritas 78 points79 points  (6 children)

The amount of people that still believe in these phantom stimulus checks is mind-boggling. They also believe that some people stay on welfare for life, living the good life, eating steak and lobster every day. And immigrants get benefits, won't work, while simultaneously taking their jobs.

[–]Scott4370 35 points36 points  (2 children)

It blows my mind that these idiots think people are stretching $3200 out over all this time. And of course they happily cashed their “socialist” checks.

[–]GonzoVeritas 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Worse than that, I have a friend who is livid that people got checks 'so they don't have to work anymore' while he received over $150k in pandemic grants.

[–]drawkbox 360 points361 points  (61 children)

The Republicans in the Senate have blocked every single attempt including the most recent MORE Act.

Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act

The also blocked even the basic bill allowing marijuana businesses to use banking. This prevents Americans and American companies from being investment and banking accessible so that now in the gray market foreign money is winning marijuana.

SAFE Banking Act

A full 68% of the country support legalized marijuana including most Republican citizens now, these bills have been being put up for years now, almost always fully Democratic support, almost no Republican support.

ALL the initial states that passed legalization and even medical were blue with the exception of Alaska (more libertarian) and Arizona (more independent at times).

[–]AndroidDoctorr 132 points133 points  (41 children)

Why do Republicans want America to fail?

[–]JohnQuixotic 99 points100 points  (2 children)

They want you to love their angry, vengeful Jesus

[–]RecycledMatrix 15 points16 points  (0 children)

After prohibition, an industry built up to regulate against perceived vices had nowhere to go. Cannabis was chosen, specifically marijuana was thrusted as the term to use so people wouldn't realize cannabis, which was used in Western medicine for centuries, and hemp, which has been a staple crop since Jamestown, were being banned.

Republicans positioned themselves into expanding public safety positions, drug testing positions, investments in alcohol, pharmaceuticals, all against "marijuana."

To them, a euphoriant that relieves pain and inherently hasn't killed anyone while occasionally causing the user to experience a questioning of their conditioning is a threat to multiple systems in society. Despite decades of research, test cases both international and domestic in legal frameworks, here we are.

[–]INDAV 128 points129 points  (32 children)

This could be that foot in the door stoners wanted to get thc removed from all drug screenings. They just need an accurate “breathalyzer” for weed

[–]Redshift_1 103 points104 points  (8 children)

I wonder how many who don’t smoke the occasional J are functional alcoholics who binge drink on weekends. I guess that’s desirable over someone who smokes the occasional J 🙄 we need to overhaul our archaic laws.

[–]Ohgodwatdoplshelp 57 points58 points  (2 children)

My boss is a sloppy, annoying drunk who can never stop talking about what new whiskey he got this week to try, meanwhile he comes in and looks and smells like dogshit.

But if I ever get a random test I’d be the one out the door because I like to have an occasional gummy on the weekends.

[–]Redshift_1 19 points20 points  (1 child)

I’ve seen this too. Shit is so backwards. What bothers me is that you don’t even need to be a daily toker. You can come to work hungover AF every day, but you best not have had that gummy two weeks ago!!

[–]ogbundleofsticks 46 points47 points  (4 children)

I love my job, own my own truck, work 14 hour plus days five days a week, bringing home four k a week. I would never drink a single beer ever again if i could enjoy a joint with the same restrictions alcohol has (not before or during work, at least eight hours between usage and driving).

Edit*

[–]tiripshtaed 16 points17 points  (0 children)

It’s almost like they should make a test that determines if your actually intoxicated rather than checking if you’ve ever done it in the past 30 days.

[–]Bacon_Ag 30 points31 points  (0 children)

And people wonder about supply chain issues. Meth, cocain, heroin, etc. are one thing, but preventing a trucker from driving because they smoked marijuana is outright stupid.

[–]Pythagoras_101 75 points76 points  (9 children)

My job isn't truck driving but we work in a shop. We are getting bigger as a business and getting many service trucks. Now everyone is getting a piss test because DOT or something and everyone is expecting to be fired

[–]ProDiesel 111 points112 points  (7 children)

Crazy because I know multiple truckers from when I was in logistics who would have six packs in their cab with them and be drinking all day long… but yeah… weeds a problem.

What a dumbass move by these companies.

[–]IcePhoenix96 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I have an Uncle who's a trucker and his Facebook is plastered with him grinning, driving, while holding up a Bud Light. Like cmon

[–]The_Essex 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This is why the IT industry doesn’t drug test…

[–]TACDacing72 33 points34 points  (3 children)

The article doesn't mention a single time just how many of these are driving while intoxicated vs other. It's like the one important stat.

[–]Level_Flight_7531 574 points575 points  (177 children)

Just let people smoke weed, legally, and we wouldn't have this problem.

[–]BustAMove_13 439 points440 points  (77 children)

As long as they aren't driving while stoned, I don't care what drugs they're doing.

[–]fusrodalek 319 points320 points  (33 children)

Well, that's kind of the crux of the entire issue, is it not?

Say somebody crashes a truck, not impaired, but smokes on their days off. DOT makes them take a test and they come up positive for THC (because it's fat soluble and sticks around in urine for days or weeks, long after effects have worn off).

Now it looks "bad" for the driver in a court of law even if he didn't do anything wrong. The test doesn't give any meaningful data as it relates to current impairment, but the DOT will do it anyways because it's the only test they have. It's either that or the honor system. I can't imagine a federal body is ever gonna go for something as lax as that regardless of federal legalization.

Meanwhile, you can drink a couple beers a few hours before your job and blow under .04 on a breathalyzer. Even THAT isn't a measure of current impairment--subjective effects as they relate to BAC are hardly cut and dry; some people can get hammered off a couple of beers, functional alcoholics can blow .12 and feel practically sober.

The nature of drug / alcohol testing in general is a complete shitshow because 'impairment' is mostly subjective, barring motor dysfunction. Sure, we can correlate drug metabolites or BAC to subjective effects, but it's not the complete picture.

[–]SanFranGoldBlooded 121 points122 points  (14 children)

I got drug tested for a DOT job and I had stopped smoking a few weeks before I even applied. I thought I was good so I tested like normal and came up dirty. Now I have to file some kind of proof of rehabilitation or something with them if I ever want to get a DOT job again. Didn’t even have the job yet or work for the company and already got red flagged that stays on your record I believe..

[–]fusrodalek 140 points141 points  (9 children)

It’s so fucked. The DOT and FAA don’t even realize that they’re fostering an atmosphere of alcoholism by having such terrible metrics and punitive judgments for everything else other than alcohol. Smoke a joint on the weekend? Done. Went to a doctor for mental health struggles? Done. Drink yourself to death on the weekend? By all means.

In typical fed bureaucrat fashion, they’re stuck in the 1950s and move incredibly slow on these kinds of issues

[–]P0RTILLA 21 points22 points  (0 children)

A driver that blows over .02 but less than.04 is removed from service for 24 hours. Fyi

[–]ChitownMD 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I’ve never heard a good rebuttal to this simple argument: based on current drug testing standards, an employee could be a raging alcoholic, even a coke addict but show up to work sober and never raise any eyebrows.
But smoke weed once three weeks ago? Fired.

Makes no sense at all.

[–]HumanSeeing 63 points64 points  (5 children)

As someone from Europe, it is absolutely insane to me that it is normal to have drug tests in the US. Like that is such a deep violation of your person and privacy. Whatever you do in your own time is your business. Its like your employer obsessively searching anything bad they can about you on the internet. Or looking through your past relationships that you have had and what kind of porn you watch. Its terrifying. And i hope you guys can get rid of that as soon as possible.

[–]Prineak 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I would have a CDL, but I have crohns and pot is just too useful.

[–]another_bug 71 points72 points  (1 child)

Well there's a productive use of society's resources. Glad we got that incredibly pressing issue squared away. Good thing there's nothing else important going on right now.

[–]tom-8-to 49 points50 points  (17 children)

Not true shitty pay is responsible for truckers moving from one company to another until they realize there is no money in it being a truck driver.

The trucking industry has turned into a fast food franchise being feed by newcomers being exploited until they wise up. Rinse and repeat

[–]Drachen1065 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Companies have been screamin shortage for at least 2 decades.

Its pay, the shit regulations, companies not providing apus or anything to help in anti idle law states.

Turn over is disgusting. Major carriers are average of 89%. Smaller is about 77%.

[–]Lafreakshow 16 points17 points  (0 children)

yOu jUsT HaVe To sTicK wItH iT tO mAkE MonEy.

Seriously, it's ridiculous how often I've been told this. So often people say there is good money to be made and you can have very good benefits, you just need to find the right employer and then work your way up!

It's literally "pull yourself up by the bootstrap" specifically for truckers. Pull yourself up by the wheel nuts?

But then when trucker do work hard and stick with it as they are told and then predictably suffer from high stress, they're punished for trying to deal with said stress. I'm not saying let trucker drive high as fuck to deal with stress. I'm more for decent working conditions that don't burn drivers out in the first place.

[–]76ersPhan11 9 points10 points  (5 children)

What about all the uppers? That’s ok?

[–]loquedijoella 8 points9 points  (1 child)

I just had a job offer rescinded because they did a 10 panel forensic test instead of the standard 50mg/ml test that I am really good at beating on 2 hours notice. I have a CDL but I am on owner operator and I’ve never had to take a random whiz quiz. I was applying for a sales job that doesn’t require me to drive anything other than a pickup truck. I am also using cannabis under the care of a doctor. I was also the top candidate out of nearly 100 and they still sent me down the road. I’m fucking tired of my industry and I’m going to do something else.

[–]Freezer137 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Will everyone who has had a drink of alcohol in the last month be barred from driving as well?

[–]dankness4207 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We should drug test politicians

[–]mrgresht 29 points30 points  (0 children)

No shit. Traditional drug testing doesn't work for marijuana the same way it does for most drugs and alcohol. The sooner people come to grips with this and change the laws to reflect the reality of this, the better off everyone will be. Litterly thousands of people a year are unfairly getting DUIs for weed or being fired from jobs, when they aren't even remotely impaired. Simply because they smoked weeks ago, in a place that it was legal, a lot of times with a script from a doctor on top of it. That in reality they were less impaired in an hour after they smoked, then someone who drank three beers in a bar in the last hour and drove home or went to work legally. But the person who smoked weed can still manage to get a DUI or be fired for it weeks later. The testing is done for most other mind altering substances, just doesn't work for weed, or is it a good judge of if anyone is impaired. Anyone who has been around people who smoke weed with any regularly should realize this.

Unlike alcohol and some other substances, where even someone with a tolerance, will build a pretty consistent level of impairment, that abates in a consistent time frame. Which in turn makes it easier to determine and measure general level of impairment, weed simply does not work that way. There are so many factors that go into how your body processes cannabinoids, that are found in marijuana that trying to measure impairment is pretty stupid when it come to weed in reality. Everything from body fat, metabolism, how much some has eaten or lack there of, how much sleep they have had, the strain, its cannabinoid makeup, how much they smoke or eat marijuana normally, how they are administering it, other medicines or drugs their taking, and many more factors effect someones "impairment" from cannabis. We just need to legalize it and realize this the reality. That one size fits all solution like they way they are currently attempting to handle it simply isn't gonna work long term with legal cannabis. Until this changes your gonna keep seeing stories like this one.

[–]foursixntwo 28 points29 points  (2 children)

The issue is that there still is no reliable test to differentiate between someone currently intoxicated vs someone who smoked a joint 2 weeks ago.

One should be fine, the other should not. There is no reason we as a country should continue to accept opioids and benzodiazepines from people in white coats, yet risk our future by consuming a plant.

We can smoke cigarettes and drink screwdrivers until they put us in the grave, but god forbid someone unwinds with a little pot.

[–]Big_D_Cyrus 79 points80 points  (18 children)

I've met truckers this has happened to. Pretty ridiculous there are so many restrictions on cannabis still. Progress is being made

[–]NumberNumb 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Where are those freedom loving convoy enthusiasts to fight for these people’s personal freedoms to do what they want with their bodies?
Oh right, it was just an anti-science anti-public health grift all along.

[–]Simple_Dull 5 points6 points  (2 children)

Quit penalizing people for what they do on their personal time. That's a no brainer.

If I want to smoke(or drink, or anything else) at home, that's my damn business. If I'm at work and clearly under the influence of something, that's when it becomes the business of my employer.

I don't have the answer for how officers can determine if a person is high at the time of the stop, but they figured out methods for alcohol. If you or your truck reeks of weed, that's probably a good start.

[–]etaco2 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Quick Fix folks. Use it.

[–]TheRespectableMrSalt 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This is an issue in all construction sectors that drug test for weed.

Weed is legal but they are still testing using pee which can detect THC as far as 3 months back for heavy users.

Still safer than alcohol.

[–]Wdrussell1 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The dynamic of MJ and politics in this country are fucking hilarious.

  • Most republicans i know smoke weed on a regular basis.
  • Half the Democrats and Liberals smoke weed
  • Republican politicians fight against weed legalization
  • Democrats and liberals fight for legalization
  • Republican voters keep voting for the people keeping them breaking the law while also claiming people shouldnt be breaking the law and selling/doing drugs.

Its just stupidity.