WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s anticipated move to recategorize marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act will likely lead to more truck crashes unless safeguards are put in place, the American Trucking Associations has warned.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced the Justice Department’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to reschedule the drug at a press briefing on Thursday.
“If finalized, marijuana will no longer hold the higher-level classification it currently holds over fentanyl and meth drugs driving our nation’s overdose epidemic, and it will remove burdensome, long-standing barriers to critical research,” Jean-Pierre said.
“This announcement builds on the work President Biden has already done to pardon a record number of federal offenses for simply possessing marijuana.”
According to DOJ, the proposed change is consistent with the view of the Department of Health and Human Services that marijuana has a currently accepted medical use “as well as HHS’s views about marijuana’s abuse potential and level of physical or psychological dependence.” HHS recommended the change to the DOJ’s Drug Enforcement Agency last year.
In responding to the proposal, ATA noted that the Department of Transportation’s current drug and alcohol testing authority is limited by HHS’ Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs, which allow motor carriers to test for Schedule I or II drugs but not for Schedule III drugs.
“If this rulemaking is permitted to move forward without appropriate regulatory review, oversight and deliberation, ATA is concerned that it will severely curtail the ability of motor carriers and other employers of safety-sensitive positions to maintain a safe working environment, threatening the safety of all road users,” said Dan Horvath, ATA’s senior vice president of regulatory affairs and safety policy.
In a letter Wednesday to DOJ, HHS and DOT in anticipation of the rescheduling, Horvath pointed out that marijuana represented close to 60% of all positive employer drug tests of regulated commercial drivers reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, based on FMCSA’s latest data.
He also cited recent examples of fatal crashes involving truck drivers who had used marijuana, including a multivehicle crash in Indiana last year that killed seven people and a crash this year in Texas involving a cement-truck driver who hit a school bus head-on, killing one child.
“Rescheduling marijuana without an explicit drug testing carveout for safety-sensitive workers could ultimately lead to more devastating tragedies like these and add to the ever-increasing death toll on our nation’s roadways,” Horvath wrote.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association had a more cautious response to the proposed rule.
“OOIDA has a large, diverse membership and we are in the process of garnering feedback,” said OOIDA spokesman George O’Connor in a statement.
“There are still plenty of questions to be addressed on the topic, particularly because a person who tests positive is not necessarily under the influence and may not have been under the influence for weeks.”
Travis
I agree with the current administration that Marijuana should be reclassified as schedule 3 drug. It’s a double standard that we are producing generations of alcoholics yet, a naturally occurring plant with proven healing and medical properties continues to be criminalized in the name of keeping the alcohol and tobacco lobby lining the pockets of legislators.
Davontae
They should allow us to take a test while high to see whether we are safe to drive under those conditions.
Davontae
You need to stop your law suite against Joe Biden rescheduling marijuana to schedule 3 their is no absolute direct link if marijuana to those incidences other then they tested positive but as far as it being the cause is completely false your blowing up minority cases.
Its just like when yall said if marijuana is legalized their will be an increase in car accidents and that turned out to be false and the biggest example i would like yall to consider is the Country Canada legalized it nation wide years ago and look at its results remember Canada has a transportations industry too.
I implore that you consider what Canada does in response to this is regarding marijuana legalization do some research on your own and verify.
David Manevich
Its still common sense. If theyre worried about drivers, driving while high its the same as drinking while driving. Of course there are people who will drive while high just as there are drunk drivers. The classification shouldnt make a difference or an increase in high drivers and in most cases driving while high usually makes drivers more cautious if not at least slower than speed limit at least instead of speeding. Theyre usually paranoid most people that have partaked in marijuana will tell you a high driver is much safer than a drunk driver and the effects dont last even have as long
Donald Maier
Assuming marijuana is approved as as Schedule III substance, who will have the liability if a truck driver causes a serious fatal accident (or even non serious accident) and is under the influence of the ‘schedule III’ drug? The company that is not able to test for Schedule III substances, the driver who may be an OO or working for a non-asset freight broker, or even the shipper? Seems like policies favor passing the responsibility of wrongdoing onto someone else. Of course, insurance rates will certainly increase yet will shippers accept that additional cost. I can’t think of any trucking company or responsible OO that wants to see rates increase just to cover the cost of higher insurance rates.
Victor
There needs to be a test developed that can indicate if a person is currently under the influence. If I’m on vacation for 2 weeks and legally use it but do not use it for 72 hours before returning to work, why should I be penalized? I do not use marijuana but do believe that it has valuable medical applications as evidenced by my own experience with my diabetic stepson.
Concerned Patriot
I have a few questions that I think we all should be asking.
1. Where does it end?
2. Do we really believe there is not some huge benefit to our Federal Government by taking these steps?
3. Have any of you been to Hollywood and walked along the boardwalk for 20 minutes? The streets are filthy. There are tons of people completely messed up from the amount of drugs they already take. So, this is supposed to benefit those people? We are creating an even bigger mess.
4. Have any of you been to Denver and talked to an actual local about the effects that legal drugs have had on their city? It has led to WORSE drug use, gambling additions, and prostitution. When you legalize a horrible drug like marijuana, people go to something more powerful.
This move will HURT our beautiful country. Let’s make drug laws even more strict rather than giving in to ridiculous ideas invented by incompetent individuals and organizations.
Lisa M. Russo
Moving to III is not the answer the full answer. If they are going to do that first they need to figure out how to test if someone is actively under the influence like they do with alcohol. It was legalized before the proper testing was available.