In my opinion, we should not remove marijuana screening from our practice for a few reasons. If an employee was under the influence of alcohol or an illicit drug, then was subsequently injured, a drug screening would be warranted post-accident. The same logic may be applied to a marijuana user. Regardless of the legality of marijuana in each respective state, it would be beneficial to know an employee’s baseline status when injured. This may not only reduce an employer’s liability, but could potentially provide healthcare professionals with a better understanding of how best to care for the patient.

If the provider is contemplating opioids, they will have noted in the chart whether the injured employee was impaired at the time of incident, or whether the employee is at high risk for opioid abuse. Extra counseling may be provided to the employee when opioid therapy is necessary, as opioids interact with cannabis and alcohol. Keep in mind that there may be instances where the time of marijuana use or quantity consumed cannot be measured post-accident due to type, formulation, and employee characteristics. This, however, should not change best practices for testing. Above all else, post-accident drug screenings should be recommended for the purpose of employee safety.