American society has slowly but surely been changing its attitudes towards marijuana use. While it was once severely frowned upon and policed heavily, many states have fully decriminalized possession of the plant and now allow for adults over 21 years of age to legally indulge.
With the industry predicted to increase in value as more states turn to legalization, many rap moguls have already dipped their feet in the growing industry. To stay in touch with modern times, Amazon is adjusting its company drug testing policy to treat marijuana use the same as alcohol use for positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation.
Dave Clark, Amazon's CEO of Worldwide Consumer, relayed in a message to the company's U.S. operations employees that a growing number of states enacting marijuana legalization was a key inspiration for the decision. Marijuana does remain illegal at the federal level, which explains the regulated by the Department of Transportation addendum.
“In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use,” Clark said in the message. “However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course. We will no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation, and will instead treat it the same as alcohol use. We will continue to do impairment checks on the job and will test for all drugs and alcohol after any incident.”
In addition, Amazon's public policy team will also be "actively supporting" the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021, which was introduced by congressional leaders in May.
Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, noted that Amazon's decision marks “a reflection of today’s changing cultural landscape.”
[via]