More Companies Are Relaxing Their Drug-Testing Rules. Here’s Why

Bracewell’s Bob Nichols discussed with The Business Journals’ “The Playbook” how the traditional blanket approach to drug testing is no longer working for many companies.

“Trying to have a marijuana testing program has become so nightmarish because you cannot have a single approach anymore because the rules are so very different,” said Nichols, adding that marijuana tests only show you have used it, not whether you are currently high. “You can be the forklift driver who never goes to work high, only gets high at the end of their shift at home and is completely sober by the next morning and you are going to test positive for marijuana.”

Moral judgements also persist among employers about marijuana, Nichols added.

“There’s no question that for a lot of employers there is some moral judgement. There are managers, supervisors and business owners who regard marijuana use as sinful or bad,” Nichols said.

But things are changing, Nichols noted, as more and more states legalize marijuana and subsequently put protections in place for the population of people who use it. And that means more potential headaches for business owners, he said.

“It’s only going to become more difficult for businesses that are trying to maintain marijuana prohibitions.” Nichols said. “There are going to be more and more states that have more and more lenient marijuana laws. This is going to become a bigger issue for business with the passage of time.”

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