Proposed Marijuana Reclassification and Impact on Employers

On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the Attorney General has submitted a notice of proposed rulemaking initiating a formal rulemaking process to consider moving marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance.

The DEA proposal has no immediate impact on state or federal laws regulating marijuana. Prospectively, the biggest impact may concern employers in industries, such as transportation, that perform drug testing in accordance with federal requirements. The Federal Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act requires all U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies to implement drug and alcohol testing requirements for “safety-sensitive” employment positions regulated by those agencies. Accordingly, employees with safety-sensitive responsibilities regulated by agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Federal Railroad Administration, are subject to extensive mandatory drug testing.