As more U.S. states legalize cannabis, an increasing number of employees are testing positive for cannabis in drug screenings. Of the more than 6 million general workforce urine tests conducted by Quest Diagnostics in 2021, 3.9% tested positive for cannabis—marking an increase of more than 8% from 2020, and a 50% increase since 2017, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.
What’s more, the percentage of cannabis-positive tests increased even despite a drop in companies testing their employees for THC. The percentage of screenings testing for THC declined 6.7% nationwide in 2021 from 2020; in legal adult-use states, it fell by 10.3%.
“We’ve been seeing year-over-year declines in those recreational-use states, but by far the largest drop we’ve ever seen was in 2021,” Dr. Barry Sample, Quest’s senior science consultant, told The Wall Street Journal.
