Marijuana Moment: Transportation Groups Warn Feds Of Marijuana Rescheduling’s ‘Consequences’ For Drug Testing Of Truck Drivers And Pilots

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A coalition of transportation and safety organizations say they have “serious safety concerns” surrounding the Trump administration’s move to federally reschedule marijuana.

Led by the American Trucking Associations, the groups sent a letter on Monday urging federal officials to take steps to ensure that truck drivers, pilots, transit operators and other safety-sensitive workers will continue to be tested for cannabis.

“Unless the necessary steps are taken to preserve employers’ ability to test safety‑sensitive transportation workers for marijuana, this change could have significant consequences for the safety of the traveling public and the entire transportation sector,” they wrote to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terrance Cole, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

The organizations said they understand that federal officials are proceeding with rescheduling with “urgency” under an executive order from President Donald Trump, they are “deeply concerned that the current process has not adequately accounted for the impact on transportation safety or the agencies charged with protecting the traveling public” and they want agencies to “work together” during an ongoing cannabis rescheduling hearing and rulemaking process to address those concerns.

In May, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued new guidance saying that truck drivers, airline pilots and other safety-sensitive workers still cannot use medical marijuana without punishment despite the Trump administration’s move to reschedule it.

“Marijuana use is not compatible with safety-sensitive functions,” the department said.

Medical review officers (MROs) who receive drug test results indicating cannabis consumption cannot deem them to be negative for illegal substance use, even when an employee says it was the result of state-licensed medical marijuana, it said.

“Currently, there is no instance when the MRO could verify a laboratory-confirmed marijuana positive drug test result as ‘negative’ when an employee claims the positive was caused by a State licensed marijuana product,” DOT said, explaining that even after rescheduling, medical marijuana dispensed in accordance with state law “does not constitute” a drug that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The transportation groups said in the new letter that DOT’s drug testing program “depends on Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs and HHS‑certified laboratories.”

“Although DOT has expressed its intent to continue testing for marijuana, a commitment we deeply appreciate, it is unclear whether DOT will retain the ability to rely on HHS procedures and certifications following the rescheduling,” they wrote. “Without that alignment, DOT may maintain the authority to test but lack the scientific and procedural infrastructure to do so.”

“Practically, this would mean truck and bus drivers, pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, air mechanics, rail operating personnel, dispatchers and signal personnel, transit operators, and pipeline workers could continue performing safety-critical, high-risk duties without any reliable means of confirming they are not actively using marijuana. Furthermore, because no validated test exists to measure real‑time marijuana impairment, transportation safety relies heavily on controlled‑substance testing to identify recent use and prevent potentially impaired individuals from performing safety‑sensitive duties. Rescheduling could create legal or regulatory gaps that weaken the existing drug testing framework upon which regulated employers rely. Absent clear guidance, these employers will face immediate compliance uncertainty, with direct repercussions for public safety. This concern is shared by the National Transportation Safety Board, which has warned that any final rule must not compromise marijuana testing for safety‑sensitive transportation employees.”

“Regardless of the broader policy goals of rescheduling, the federal government should not proceed without a clear plan to preserve transportation drug‑testing programs and mitigate the risks of increased and unchecked impairment on our roadway, railroads, public transit systems, pipelines, airspace, and maritime corridors,” the letter says.

The organizations are specifically asking federal officials to:

• Safeguard marijuana testing for all safety‑sensitive transportation workers over the long term;
• Affirm the authority of DOT‑regulated employers to conduct such testing;
• Ensure HHS laboratory certification and testing guidelines remain available and aligned with DOT’s safety mission; and
• Establish a coordinated federal strategy to address the transportation‑safety implications of rescheduling.

“The traveling public and the workers who keep our transportation system functioning safely deserve a process that ensures these safeguards remain firmly in place before any final action is taken,” the letter says.

Earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee adopted a provision directing federal officials to continue requiring government employees and safety-sensitive workers such as truck drivers and airline pilots to be drug tested for marijuana, “regardless of any future changes to the legal status or scheduling.”

The followed a press conference organized by prohibitionist groups and a drug testing industry association where two Republican lawmakers joined their call for a “carve-out” to marijuana rescheduling by affirming that safety-sensitive transportation workers could still be penalized for testing positive for THC.

The lawmakers and prohibitionist activists argued that moving marijuana to Schedule III would mean a 1986 executive order on the federal workforce that President Ronald Reagan signed defining illegal drugs as Schedule I and II drugs under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) would be effectively nullified when it comes to cannabis use by truck drivers, airline pilots and other workers regulated by DOT.

Last October, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy suggested President Donald Trump was “getting pressure” to reschedule cannabis—arguing that marijuana is “really addictive” and saying that policy reform around the issue sends a “dangerous” message.

“At a time when culture is pushing and celebrating the use of marijuana, we’re not talking about the risk,” Duffy said.

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