A coalition of transportation and safety organizations said they have “serious safety concerns” about the Trump administration’s move to federally regulate marijuana.

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

“If employers do not take the necessary steps to preserve the ability of security-sensitive transportation workers to test for marijuana, this change could have significant consequences for the safety of passengers and the entire transportation industry,” wrote Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terrance Cole, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, and Transportation Secretary J.

The organizations said they understand that federal officials are being “urgently” reorganized under an executive order from President Donald Trump, that they are “deeply concerned that the current process does not adequately take into account agencies responsible for transportation safety or protecting the traveling public” and that they want the agencies to “work together.” ongoing cannabis redistricting hearings and rulemaking process to address these concerns.

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

“Marijuana use is incompatible with safety-sensitive functions,” the department said.

Medical review officers (MROs) who receive drug test results indicating cannabis use cannot rule them out as negative for illegal substance use, even if an employee claims it was a result of state-licensed medical marijuana.

“Currently, there is no way for an MRO to verify that a laboratory-confirmed marijuana drug test result is positive when an employee claims the positive was caused by a state-licensed marijuana product,” the DOT said, explaining that after the reprogramming, medical marijuana dispensed under state law “does not” constitute a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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

“While DOT has expressed its intention to continue testing marijuana, a commitment we greatly appreciate, it is unclear whether DOT will retain its ability to rely on HHS procedures and certifications after the rescheduling,” they wrote. “Without this alignment, DOT may retain the authority to conduct testing, but lack the scientific and procedural infrastructure to do so.”

“Practically, this would mean that truck and bus drivers, pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, air mechanics, railroad workers, dispatchers and signal workers, transit operators and pipeline workers could continue to perform high-risk safety roles without a reliable means of verifying that they are not actively using marijuana. It relies on controlled substance testing to identify end use and prevent potentially impaired individuals from fulfilling their safety-related obligations. While the planning could create legal or regulatory loopholes, the regulated employer-based drug testing agency warned that the final rules should not jeopardize marijuana testing for safety-sensitive transportation workers.”

“Regardless of the broader policy goals of the review, the federal government should not move forward to preserve transportation drug testing programs and mitigate the risks of increased and unchecked deterioration of our roads, railroads, public transportation systems, pipelines, airspace, and maritime corridors,” the letter says.

The organizations specifically ask federal officials to:

• Support long-term marijuana testing for all safety-sensitive transportation workers;
• Confirm the authority of DOT-regulated employers to perform such tests;
• 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 security implications of rescheduling.

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

Earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee approved a provision to allow federal officials to continue requiring government employees and security-sensitive employees, such as truck drivers and airline pilots must be drug tested for marijuana, “regardless of any future change in legal status or schedule.”

This was followed by a press conference organized by prohibitionist groups and a drug-testing industry association, where both Republican lawmakers joined the proclamation. “Cut” to marijuana rescheduling by asserting that safety-sensitive transportation workers can still be punished for testing positive for THC.

Legislators and abolitionist activists argued that moving marijuana to Schedule III would lead to a 1986 executive order signed by President Ronald Reagan defining illegal drugs under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in relation to the use of cannabis by truck drivers and other airline employees.

Last October, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy suggested that President Donald Trump was “putting pressure” on rescheduling cannabis.arguing that marijuana is “truly addictive” and that policy reform on the issue sends a “dangerous” message.

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