Year-end numbers recorded in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse show the “number of positive drug tests for marijuana and nearly all other substances identified among truck drivers declined in the calendar year 2023 compared with 2022,” according to an article on the Transport Topics website.
Transport Topics reports that the number of annually recorded marijuana positive tests and 13 other positive-tested substances decreased from 68,639 in 2022 to 61,443 in 2023 — a more than 10% decline — but the annual drug testing numbers were not all encouraging. Examples from the Clearinghouse of positive drug tests among truck drivers declining include:
- Marijuana — 2023: 37,657 / 2022: 40,916
- Cocaine — 2023: 10,326 / 2022: 10,953
- Methamphetamine — 2023: 4,515 / 2022: 5,569
- Amphetamine — 2023: 4,222 / 2022: 5,349
“We’ve observed that even though the number of positive drug tests dropped for the first time in relation to the previous calendar year, the number of overall drug violations reported to the Clearinghouse continued to increase [68,229 drug violations in 2023 compared with 67,775 in 2022],” the FMCSA said in a statement to Transport Topics.
The FMCSA added that the overall rise in drug violations in 2023 “is attributed to nearly a 40% increase in reported drug test refusals — 9,214 in 2022 versus 12,804 in 2023. Drug test refusals include employer reported refusals like failing to show up for a random test, or leaving a test collection facility after a test has begun but before it’s complete.”
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Thomas Ahearn - Digital Content Editor
Thomas Ahearn is a Digital Content Editor at ClearStar, a leading Human Resources technology company specializing in background checks, drug testing, and occupational health screening. He writes about a variety of topics in the background screening industry including Artificial Intelligence (AI), "Ban the Box," class action lawsuits, credit reports, criminal records, drug testing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), identity theft, privacy, social media screening, and workplace violence.
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