{"id":9379,"date":"2021-06-02T18:19:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T18:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=4592640"},"modified":"2021-06-02T18:19:07","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T18:19:07","slug":"amazon-will-stop-marijuana-drug-testing-for-many-job-applicants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/amazon-will-stop-marijuana-drug-testing-for-many-job-applicants\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon will stop marijuana drug testing for many job applicants"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/amazon-will-stop-marijuana-drug-testing-for-many-job-applicants\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/amazon-will-stop-marijuana-drug-testing-for-many-job-applicants.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2021\/06\/02\/amazon-stop-marijuana-drug-testing\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dp-news-marijuana+%28Denver+Post%3A+News%3A+Marijuana%29&amp;utm_content=Google+UK#comments-anchor\"><span class=\"spot-im-replies-count\" data-post-id=\"4592640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Amazon will no longer test many prospective employees for marijuana use prior to employment, as more states where the company operates continue to legalize the plant.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aboutamazon.com\/news\/operations\/update-on-our-vision-to-be-earths-best-employer-and-earths-safest-place-to-work\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a blog post<\/a> Tuesday, Amazon CEO Dave Clark said applicants for positions that are not regulated by the Department of Transportation \u2014 meaning those that do not require driving \u2014 will not be screened for cannabis. Instead, the company will treat the substance like alcohol, doing impairment checks on the job and testing after any incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the past, like many employers, we\u2019ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use. However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we\u2019ve changed course,\u201d Clark wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon employs 16,000 people in Colorado between its four fulfillment and sortation centers, four delivery centers, a tech hub, 19 Whole Foods locations, and other properties, company spokesperson Nikki Wheeler said.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, 38 states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for <a href=\"https:\/\/norml.org\/laws\/medical-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">medical<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/norml.org\/laws\/legalization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recreational<\/a> sale, or both, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>Clark said the company\u2019s public policy team will actively advocate for the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The legislation, which was recently reintroduced to Congress, would legalize marijuana at the federal level, require the government to expunge past cannabis-related convictions from residents\u2019 records, and establish a Cannabis Justice Office to develop a program that would invest resources into communities most impacted by the war on drugs, among other provisions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope that other employers will join us, and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for an end to the criminalization of drugs, praised Amazon\u2019s decision as \u201ca huge step forward in eliminating one of the main ways the drug war has robbed so many of their livelihoods.\u201d She called on other companies to follow suit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis change can and should be the catalyst to a much larger move \u2014 ending testing for all drugs \u2014 that would ensure a more just and equitable future for millions of people, especially Black, Brown and Indigenous communities who have been disproportionately impacted by these policies,\u201d Frederique said. \u201cWe urge other employers to take note and follow suit, ending this counterproductive practice once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Amazon will no longer test many prospective employees for marijuana use prior to employment, as more states where the company operates continue to legalize the plant. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[938,5062,6813,77,5577,9,8309,5019,6845,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[3509,5063,6818,2655,5580,8310,5022,6846],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}