The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a notice clarifying that recent state initiatives legalizing the recreational use of marijuana will not affect the DOT's regulated drug testing program.
On December 3, 2012, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a notice clarifying that recent state initiatives legalizing the recreational use of marijuana will not affect the DOT's regulated drug testing program, which prohibits marijuana use. The DOT stated that medical review officers will not verify drug tests as negative based on either:
An employee's use of recreational marijuana, even in states that have passed recreational marijuana initiatives.
A physician's recommendation that an employee use medical marijuana, even in states that have passed medical marijuana initiatives.
The DOT noted that marijuana continues to be listed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, and that it remains unacceptable for safety‐sensitive employees subject to drug testing under DOT regulations to use marijuana.