Amid ongoing discussions about how to ensure drivers aren’t impaired by marijuana, a federal official recently pushed back on criticism that proposed implementation of saliva-based drug testing could incentivize more cannabis use by commercial truckers.
In comments to the publication Transit Topics, an unidentified official from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) responded to assertions from the CEO of a drug-testing company that oral fluid testing “means truckers who use cannabis will be able to do so with near impunity, as long as they avoid a drug test for a couple of days.”
The contention of the CEO—Ken Fichtler, of Gaize—was that the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) “shift to oral fluid testing will have serious consequences for the trucking industry” because saliva testing has a shorter detection window than typical urine-based testing. He said the tests detect use within the past “24 to 48 hours,” which is far shorter than the period of weeks when marijuana metabolites can be detected in urine.
DOT finalized the new testing policies in 2023 to allow oral saliva drug testing as an alternative to urine-based tests.
The SAMHSA official, granted anonymity by Transit Topics, disputed Fichtler’s claims—both on the test’s detection window itself and the implications of DOT’s revised testing policies for truckers’ marijuana use.
“In referenced journal articles, cannabis use can be detected via oral fluid testing for up to 72 hours,” the official said. “When a donor receives a request for collection, the donor will not know if the test will be an oral fluid or urine collection until they arrive at the collection facility for a federal agency.”
Not knowing whether to expect a saliva or urine test, in other words, would prevent the situation described by Fichtler of drivers simply stopping marijuana use a few days before a saliva-based test.
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