Employee Drug Testing (H 5696A as amended, S 843A as amended)

For many years, Rhode Island has strongly protected the privacy of employees by barring most random drug testing in employment.  This year, the General Assembly dismantled some of that privacy by permitting the random drug testing of any person working in the “highway maintenance industry,” from highway workers to receptionists. The ACLU testified that random drug testing is unlikely to identify users of hard drugs, which are metabolized out of the body rapidly, but would likely identify users of marijuana, which stays in the body for weeks.  This would include those holding medical marijuana cards and those who used marijuana – the small possession of which was recently decriminalized – during their off-work time and who were not under the influence while at work.  Further, the legislation lacked many of the procedural requirements imposed under current drug testing laws.  The ACLU unsuccessfully urged the Governor to veto this bill.