Last updated : November 18, 2024
The honest answer to the question if asked whether or not school bus drivers can smoke weed, would be yes. Anyone could smoke weed or use any number of THC-infused products, such as edibles or vaping, for instance. We think the word “can” needs to be changed to “should,” though.
We’d give that question a solid, “No.”
First and foremost, living a drug-free lifestyle is the life to which you should aspire. Even casual drug use leads to addiction for many people. Once addiction takes hold, your brain craves the drug and sends out alerts when it’s not found in the system. This causes physical and mental withdrawal symptoms to set in which often results in the addict succumbing to their addiction and finding a fix.
As far as school bus drivers, specifically, they are included in the safety-sensitive workforce. That means that even though the school district may not require drug testing unless, say, reasonable suspicion is in play, the bus drivers get tested for drug use. It’s because they’re regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the DOT drug tests. That is the case even if the school is located within a state that has legalized marijuana.
If you have the following drugs in your system, you will most likely be fired from your position.
- Amphetamine or methamphetamine
- Opioids, including the synthetic opioids hydrocodone, oxycontin, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone
- Marijuana
- Cocaine
- PCP (phencyclidine)
My doctor gave me a “script” for pain pills. So I’m good, yeah?
Um, no. If you’re taking them as prescribed or not, if the medication shows up on a drug test, you’re going to get called on it. Pain medications often contain opioids and most employers include them on a company drug test.
It’s normal procedure for a positive drug test result to end in job loss.
How much water should I drink to “pass” the test?
Water doesn’t make you pass a drug test.
Moreover, you’re more than likely going to throw off the chemical balance of your urine. It’s called a “dilute.” If the test shows a negative dilute, it means drugs weren’t detected in your system and you’ll have to retest. We’ll warn you though that if it’s a DOT test, it’s observed. And that may be the case if you work in the general workforce, too. It depends on the drug testing policies of your employer.
A positive dilute result indicates that drugs were detected in the specimen and you’re likely to lose your job.
I was involved in an accident with the company truck. It wasn’t my fault, but my boss still made me get a drug test. Was that legal?
Yes, it’s legal as long as it’s stated in the company’s drug testing policies and procedures. You should have received a copy of the company’s policies and procedures when you began working there, possibly even before if you took a pre-employment test during the hiring process.
If you didn’t and aren’t considered a safety-sensitive employee, you might have a leg to stand on in court. Odds are though if you still have all the paperwork you accumulated when you hired on, it’s there in the stack. Your employer probably has it documented that you received it as well.
Does eating fatty foods before a mouth swab test truly absorb the THC in my saliva?
Nope.
Even though the marijuana metabolites stow away in the fat cells waiting to exit the body, it doesn’t do any good to try and precondition your mouth. Your body is constantly producing saliva and that’s what the swab is saturated with whether you gorged on donuts and ice cream on the way to the test site or not.
I fell asleep at work again. My supervisor says that’s cause for reasonable suspicion. Is that true?
That is true.
If someone is consistently falling asleep at work, it could be due to drug use. If coupled with any of these other common signs, it’s further evidence that a reasonable suspicion test may be necessary:
- Decline in appearance, lack of grooming
- Attendance issues
- Decline in job performance
- Inappropriate behavior
Using drugs in the workplace increases the risk of an accident occurring. Employers reserve the right to use reasonable suspicion as cause for an employee drug test. Normally, supervisors and management personnel have been trained in what to watch for and to thoroughly document their suspicions before ever reaching out to the employee.
Weed is legal here. Can my employer bust me because I smoke on my off hours?
Technically, yes. If the company tests for marijuana and your test is positive, you will most likely lose your job. That’s likely to be the case until there is a “real-time” test for weed.
Marijuana metabolites remain in the body long after the effects of the drug have passed. It remains in the system anywhere from a few days up to three months or more depending on how often it’s ingested.
Rather than worry about having drugs in your system, why not live drug-free?
We mentioned at the top of the article that choosing to live a drug-free lifestyle is the best-case scenario. Drugs impair your mind and body making it more likely you will suffer an accident. Causing someone else harm because you were high on drugs would be a hard thing to deal with afterward.
More importantly, drugs negatively affect your health over time and the danger of addiction is great. Overdose risk is increased due to fentanyl becoming a common “filler” in every type of illicit drug smuggled into our country. They say fentanyl is even being found in weed now.
Don’t:
- Become a statistic.
- Risk becoming an addict
- Risk destroying your family
- Destroy your friendships
- Risk losing your job.
Don’t do drugs and if you’re currently using and can’t stop on your own, seek help! Beating an addiction is hard but with the support of family and friends, you can do it! And your life will do a 180 for the better, count on it.
