The percentage of employees in the general U.S. workforce testing positive for marijuana following an on-the-job accident increased to its highest level in 25 years in 2022, according to an analysis by Quest Diagnostics.
Positivity rates for marijuana in the general U.S. workforce (see map above), based on more than 6.3 million urine tests, continued an upward climb, increasing to 4.3 percent in 2022 compared to 3.9 percent in 2021, the highest positivity rate ever reported in the DTI.
Workforce positivity increased in the construction increased to 4.7 percent, up from 4.1 percent in 2018.
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In 2022, post-accident marijuana positivity of urine drug tests in the general U.S. workforce was 7.3 percent, an increase over the 6.7 percent recorded in 2021. The new peak follows a steady increase in post-accident marijuana positivity every year from 2012 to 2022. In that 10-year time frame, post-accident marijuana positivity more than doubled. From 2002 to 2009, post-accident marijuana workforce positivity declined.
These increases in post-accident marijuana positivity correspond with legalization of marijuana in certain states, according to Quest. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Since then, 19 additional states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana and 38 states (plus the District of Columbia) have legalized medical use, although either kind of use remains illegal under federal law.
Marijuana positivity increased to 5.7 percent in 2022 in states in which recreational marijuana is legal (up from 5.1 percent) and to 3.9 percent in states in which medical marijuana is legal (up from 3.6 percent). In states in which neither recreational nor medical marijuana is legal, marijuana positivity increased to 3.1 percent from 3.0 percent in 2021 and 2.7 percent in 2018.
“In the general U.S. workforce, states that have legalized recreational and medical marijuana use exhibit higher positivity rates than the national average,” said Suhash Harwani, senior director of science for employer solutions at Quest, in a statement. “States that have not legalized marijuana appear to have positivity rates below the national averages. Overall, post-accident and pre-employment positivity test rates among the federally mandated, safety-sensitive population have always been lower, suggesting the expectation of testing may be a deterrent.”
Said Katie Mueller, a senior program manager at the National Safety Council focusing on cannabis safety, in a statement:
“Intoxicating cannabis products, including marijuana, can have a major impact on safety at work and have been proven to slow reaction time, impact memory, and impair skills essential to driving. State legalization of the drug creates new challenges for employers. The Quest data provide compelling evidence that increased use of cannabis products by employees can contribute to greater risk for injuries in the workplace. It is imperative employers take the proper steps to create and maintain a policy that addresses cannabis use, build a safety-focused culture, and educate the workforce to keep all workers safe on and off the job.”
Keith Ward, general manager and VP for employer solutions, cited societal attitudes as a possible driver in positivity increases.
“Our 2022 Quest Diagnostics analysis shows that the overall U.S. workforce positivity rate continued to be at a historically elevated level in 2022, even as much of the nation’s workforce returned to the office post- pandemic,” he said in a statement. “This historic rise seems to correspond with sharp increases in positivity for marijuana in both pre-employment and post-accident drug tests, suggesting that changing societal attitudes about marijuana may be impacting workplace behaviors and putting colleagues at risk.”
Post-accident marijuana testing
The rise in marijuana post-accident positivity among private employers mirrored an increase in overall drug positivity in individuals tested post-accident. In the general U.S. workforce, rates of post-accident drug positivity increased both year over year and over the past five years in nearly all specimen types tested. Over the last five years, in general workforce urine testing, overall post-accident positivity increased to 10.3 percent, compared to 8.4 percent in 2018. Specifically, post-accident positivity as compared to pre-employment tests in urine specimens tested for marijuana and cocaine in the general U.S. workforce was higher by 58.7 percent and 230 percent, respectively.
Additionally, post-accident urine positivity for marijuana among the federally mandated safety-sensitive population increased year over year to 2.1 percent from 1.8 percent in 2021 and 1.5 percent in 2018. Pre-employment positivity for marijuana also increased for this group, to 1.3 percent from 1.1 percent in 2021 and 1.0 percent in 2018.
Post-accident testing is conducted to evaluate whether drug use may have played a role in a workplace incident prompting the drug test. Both post-accident and pre-employment drug testing aim to protect non-drug using workers from others who may use drugs in the workplace and pose a danger.
About the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index
The Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index (DTI) is a series of reports that provide insights into trends in workforce drug use based on positivity rates of deidentified laboratory tests performed by Quest Diagnostics for a range of illicit, legal and prescription drugs. It examines test results according to three categories of workers: federally mandated, safety-sensitive workers; the general U.S. workforce; and the combined U.S. workforce. Federally mandated, safety-sensitive workers include pilots, bus and truck drivers, and workers in nuclear power plants, for whom routine drug testing is mandated by government agencies like the Department of Transportation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Defense.
The strengths of the DTI analysis include its large, nationally representative sample size, longitudinal monitoring, a testing population that is generally reflective of the U.S. workforce and the quality of the company's drug testing services to confirm positive results. Limitations include analysis only of employers that perform drug testing with the company, and a lack of exact cross-specimen comparisons due to variations in substances for which employers test. Quest Diagnostics has analyzed annual workplace drug testing data since 1988 and publishes the findings as a public service.
Source: Quest Diagnostics
