Page 7 - Ohio Propane News, Winter

er Safety Administration (FMCSA) Drug and Alcohol Clearing- house (DACH) data. A positive test effectively removes a driver from the industry until a series of remedial steps are taken. The DACH data also indicate that more than 100,000 drivers tested positive and were removed from duty during the three-year pe- riod of 2020 through 2022. With a national driver shortage that fluctuated between 65,000 and 80,000 in recent years, these positive tests impact the industry.
At the same time, numerous state governments have made it easier for the general public to obtain marijuana. In many states the drug can be bought at a store and used solely for recreational purposes, and it is not uncommon to see billboards advertising marijuana along the Interstate system.
This difficult situation is coupled with a lack of research into several critical marijuana-related issues. Due in part to limited funding and constrained access to marijuana for research, the effects of marijuana impairment on activities such as driving are not fully understood. Additionally, the ATRI concludes that it is too soon to calculate the relationship between legal marijuana and highway safety outcomes.
The Marijuana Legalization and Impaired Driving: Solutions for
Protecting our Roadways report assesses the impacts of legaliza- tion on the trucking industry’s workforce and includes:
• a review of the latest demographic trends in marijuana le- galization;
• an overview of research and data related to highway safety and marijuana use;
• a summary of workforce and hiring implications for the trucking industry; and
• an analysis of available national data for positive marijua- na drug tests.
The report also analyzes data derived from two ATRI surveys on the industry impacts of marijuana – one focused on motor carrier perspectives and the other focused on driver perspec- tives. Finally, the research offers a review of possible near-term outcomes intended to help the industry navigate through the complex safety and employment issues that have resulted from state-level legalization of marijuana.
THIS SYNOPSIS COMES FROM THE ATRI MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AND IMPAIRED DRIVING: SOLUTIONS FOR PROTECTING OUR ROADWAYS REPORT. TO VIEW THE COMPLETE REPORT, THE RESEARCH CITED BY ATRI, AND THE CONCLUSIONS, SIMPLY CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ATRI MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AND IMPAIRED DRIVING: SOLUTIONS FOR PROTECTING OUR ROADWAYS REPORT.
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WINTER 2023 | 7