As more states legalize marijuana, a new federal report shows that the number of positive drug tests among commercial drivers fell last year compared to the year before, dropping from 57,597 in 2022 to 54,464 in 2023. At the same time, however, the number of drivers who refused to be screened at all also increased by 39 percent.
The record-high number of refusals comes as the transportation industry faces a nationwide shortage of drivers, which some trade groups have said has only been made worse by drug testing policies that risk flagging drivers even when they’re not impaired on the job.
The rise in refusals meant that even though there were fewer positive tests overall in 2023, the total number of recorded drug violations among truckers actually rose slightly—to 68,229 in 2023 compared to 67,775 a year earlier.
“The overall rise in drug violations in 2023, even though there are fewer positive tests, is attributed to a nearly 40% increase in reported drug test refusals—9,214 in 2022 versus 12,804 in 2023,” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which produced the new report, told the trade publication Transport Topics.
“Drug test refusals include employer reported refusals like failing to show up
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