Marijuana and trucking regulations are two topics that do not come one with each other. Generally, the regulations that are following weed consumption are becoming accepted all across the globe, especially in the U.S.

Since things are changing, the question is whether the trucking industry can adopt new regulations along the way. Back in the day, the consumption of weed was strict for regular people and forbidden explicitly for transportation industry employees.

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The main problem is that numerous states are continuing to legalize it for medicinal and recreational purposes. Therefore, you can consume weed in these states without having a permit.

Even though these changes became transparent, industries did not change the policies when it comes to this particular drug.

For instance, substance abuse in specific industries is considered with a zero-tolerance policy, even though the legality of the substance is not under the question anymore.

Outside professional sports, numerous industries come with strict laws when it comes to weed consumption. For instance, the trucking industry is the one that will not change anything even though the reality changed.

Therefore, if a truck driver carries a medical marijuana card in a legal state, him/her can’t consume and possess it along the way.

Trucking and Weed Regulations

Even though a truck driver could enter the legal state and smoke weed without possessing consequences, according to the Department of Transportation or DOT, that is illegal.

DOT officials state that not every single driver and person that works within the transportation industry can consume THC for numerous reasons including:

• Federal Laws Still Ban Weed – According to federal regulations, weed or marijuana is still Schedule I drug. Even though state and local laws allowed its possession and consumption, inside the court, Federal law overrules everything. That is why the DEA still states that weed does not come with medical use and that weed is problematic due to the ability to abuse it. Both defenders and users state that it comes with numerous health benefits, and some of them could be useful for truckers.
• Drug Testing – This is the most crucial consideration when it comes to weed consumption and to work as a trucker because most of them have to pass a drug test. If they are positive for THC, that could affect the entire trucking company and not just a driver. Even when you smoke it off duty, the nature of THC is problematic because it lingers inside your body for days. Therefore, you may be positive even if you are not intoxicated currently, which another problem that consumers are facing is.

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The DOT regulations do not have tolerance about drug abuse, which is why a single positive test leads to termination. Therefore, even if in your state everyone can consume it legally, if you operate as a trucker you should double think the repercussions that may happen with it.

If the test finds small traces of drugs within your system, you will fail it and receive DUI for having it in your system. That is something most truckers cannot handle, which is why it is forbidden for them to consume it at all.

Strict Transportation Laws

Another important consideration when it comes to weed is the transportation of it. It does not matter if you have a weed card that allows you to consume it legally in a single state; you will not be able to take it to another state in which weed is illegal.

At the same time, it illegal to cross the state lines with it, which will lead to criminal possession charges, among other things?

State laws may say that you can consume weed, but if you operate as a commercial driver under governmental guidelines, you will not be able to transport weed in planes and other forms of transportation.

The another issue lies in drug testing for DOT, which are mandatory and a single trace of THC leads to legal issues.

The laws state that you have to verify medical ailments for consuming weed for health benefits, but that is problematic for truckers and commercial drivers.

If you have in mind that strict regulations are affecting whether truckers can consume weed, therefore, it does not matter how mainstream the consumption became.

Only when federal laws about its legality change, we can think about changing a few things about transportation professionals.