Amazon will no longer test many prospective employees for marijuana use prior to employment, as more states where the company operates continue to legalize the plant.<\/p>\n
In a blog post Tuesday, Amazon CEO Dave Clark said applicants for positions that are not regulated by the Department of Transportation — meaning those that do not require driving — will not be screened for cannabis. Instead, the company will treat the substance like alcohol, doing impairment checks on the job and testing after any incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, like many employers, we\u2019ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use. However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we\u2019ve changed course,\u201d Clark wrote.<\/p>\n
Currently, 38 states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational sale, or both, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.<\/p>\n
Clark said the company\u2019s public policy team will actively advocate for the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The legislation, which was recently reintroduced to Congress, would legalize marijuana at the federal level, require the government to expunge past cannabis-related convictions from residents\u2019 records, and establish a Cannabis Justice Office to develop a program that would invest resources into communities most impacted by the war on drugs, among other provisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that other employers will join us, and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for an end to the criminalization of drugs, praised Amazon\u2019s decision as \u201ca huge step forward in eliminating one of the main ways the drug war has robbed so many of their livelihoods.\u201d She called on other companies to follow suit.<\/p>\n
“This change can and should be the catalyst to a much larger move — ending testing for all drugs — that would ensure a more just and equitable future for millions of people, especially Black, Brown and Indigenous communities who have been disproportionately impacted by these policies,\u201d Frederique said. \u201cWe urge other employers to take note and follow suit, ending this counterproductive practice once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n