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Tennessee Drug Testing

Last updated : December 16, 2024

We offer thousands of Tennessee drug testing locations to conduct pre-employment, random, DOT, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return to duty, and probation drug testing for employers, either at one of our USAMDT drug testing facilities, at your business location, or even in the field, 24/7/365!

Need to schedule drug testing and don’t see your city listed? Just call us at 800-851-2021 and we can either send you to our nearest location, or we can send a mobile collection specialist to your location, anywhere in the state of Tennessee.

Call us at 800-851-2021 to schedule an Tennessee drug test now!

 

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Tennessee drug testing locations

Don’t worry if your city isn’t listed. Just call 800-851-2021. We’ll be happy to assist you in finding a location nearby. However—and we’re sure to mention it during the conversation—you might decide to have us come to you instead.

That’s right. You’ll never have to search for “drug testing near me” again! We’ll send a mobile collection specialist to your location, anywhere throughout the state— 24/7/365.

Employees on the job site? We’ll find them.

Night shift coming due for the annual fitness-for-duty drug test? Why not have us show up during their shift rather than interrupting their sleep schedule to report for testing during normal business hours? The phrase “drug testing near me” takes on an entirely new meaning when the test rolls right up to your location, doesn’t it?

We offer employee education classes, management training, and DOT services. We can also create your company’s drug-free program. We’ll even customize your policies to specifically meet the needs of your business.

    • 1916 Patterson St Ste 103
    • Nashville, TN 37203
    • 800-851-2021
    • 11126 Kingston Pike Ste 102
    • Knoxville, TN 37934
    • 800-851-2021
    • 600 N Holtzclaw Ave Ste 210
    • Chattanooga, TN 37404
    • 800-851-2021
    • 751 Chesapeake Ln Ste 103
    • Clarksville, TN 37040
    • 800-851-2021
    • 536 N Thompson Ln Ste F
    • Murfreesboro, TN 37129
    • 800-851-2021

Tennessee drug testing laws

There is no law or regulation in Tennessee restricting employers’ requests to submit applicants or employees to drug testing. The federal government requires that employers in some safety-sensitive industries like transportation and aviation as well as those contractors working with NASA and those in the Department of Defense submit to drug testing owing to the high safety requirement of their job.

Tennessee state has put in place a drug-free workplace program to regulate drug testing. Under the Workers’ Compensation Premium Reduction Act, employers who implement a drug-free workplace policy in their organization qualify for a 5 percent discount on workers’ compensation insurance premiums. However, the state’s rule must be adhered to before employers can get their discount. Some of the rules include a written policy with specific information, strict procedures as regards sample collection and evaluation, as well as the confidentiality of the results.

Written policy

  • The employer must provide the applicants and employees with a copy of the written policy and give 60 days of notice before the implementation of the program.
  • A general policy statement as regards the use of drugs.
  • The types of required tests and the consequences of a positive test result or a refusal to submit to testing.
  • A statement that shows that test results with be treated as confidential.
  • A notification of the existence of the Act.
  • Procedures for contesting or explaining a positive result
  • A list of drugs for which the employer tests
  • Procedures for reporting the use of medications and a list of common medications that may affect a drug test.
  • A list of employee assistance and rehabilitation programs

For any job that requires drug and alcohol testing, the employer must make available notice of drug and alcohol testing on the vacancy announcement of such job.

Denial of employees’ compensation claim

Upon a contingent offer of employment, the employer must submit the applicants to drug testing if such employer desires to qualify as a drug-free workplace. The employer is also allowed to conduct more limited testing based on reasonable classifications of job positions, for instance, an employer may submit only the applicants whose jobs would be highly safety-sensitive (such as operating a heavy machine or carrying a weapon) to drug testing instead of testing the whole applicants.

An applicant may be denied employment if tested positive for drug testing or refuse to undergo drug testing.

Rules for employees in Tennessee

In other to have a drug-free workplace, an employer must submit the employees to test under the following conditions:

  • If the employees are in safety-sensitive positions
  • Following the occurrence of workplace accident which leads to injury or damages.
  • Being part of a routine fitness-for-duty- medical exam
  • As a follow-up to a required rehabilitation program
  • Upon a reasonable suspicion that the employee is under the influence. The behavior on which the reasonable suspicion is based must be documented by the employer within 24 hours or before release of test results and a copy of such document must be given to the employee upon request.

If an employee tests positive for drugs, they can contest the result or offer an explanation in not more than five days after the result has been released.  If an employee has not tested positive for drugs or been in a rehabilitation program or treatment program, no disciplinary action may be taken against such an employee if he voluntarily seeks treatment for substance abuse. Although employees who test positive for drug testing can be subjected to relevant disciplinary action, rehabilitation, and counseling must also be offered to such an employee.

Denial of employees’ compensation claim

Injury sustained or death as a result of illicit drug use or intoxication amounts to willful misconduct, and as such, there shall be no compensation allowed as contained in workers’ compensation regulations.

Legal claims arising from drug testing

Violation of any Tennessee law on a drug test by the employer amounts to a misdemeanor. Any employer who commits such a petty crime can be subjected to fines. Furthermore, applicants and employees can claim legal rights depending on certain conditions such as: how the test was conducted, who was tested, or how the test results were used.

Below are a few instances:

  • Disability discrimination: Any applicant or employee taking medication for his/her disability is protected by the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). If any of such prescribed medications turn up while the applicant or employee is undergoing a drug test and the employee or applicant is sanctioned based on a positive drug test (which was as a result of legitimately prescribed illegal drugs for certain conditions, such as opiates), the employer may be liable if the medication was legally prescribed for a disability.
  • Other discrimination claims: It is unlawful for an employer to select certain groups of employees for example, selection by race, by age, or by gender- for drug testing. Any employer found guilty of this may be subjected to a discrimination claim.
  • Invasion of privacy: Although an employer is allowed under Rhode Island law to require an employee to undergo drug testing such an employer violates employee’s privacy by requiring that the employee provide a urine sample in the presence of others.
  • Defamation: In a situation whereby an employer made publicly that the employee tested positive, and the employer is aware or had reason to know that the test result was negative, such an employer could be defamation charge.

Marijuana laws

Marijuana laws in Tennessee are stringent.

Tennessee medicinal marijuana

The state of Tennessee strictly prohibits the possession or use of marijuana in the state. However, in 2004 a law was passed by the state that allow critically ill, seizure patients to procure cannabis oil which contains a fairly large amount of CBD and a very small amount of THC. This law was further modified in 2015 and 2016 by the Tennessee legislature.

Tennessee recreational marijuana

Tennessee state has no law or statute upholding recreational marijuana. However, the use of CBD oil for the treatment of intractable epilepsy is allowed in the state.

Testing methods

Blood testing is rarely used for employee drug testing due to its expense and highly invasive nature. Blood tests detect the parent drug rather than drug metabolites. Therefore, the detection window is mere hours for nearly all drugs. However, methamphetamines remain in the blood for one to three days.

The test must be administered in a medical setting by trained medical personnel. It’s often reserved for post-accident testing.

There are three primary test methods used for employee drug testing. They are urine, mouth swab, or hair follicle drug tests.

Urine drug test

The urine drug test tops the charts as the most used employee drug testing method. As a matter of fact, it was the only drug testing method available for many years. However, over the years, drug users became more capable of finding successful ways to adulterate this test. Scientists invented both the mouth swab test and the hair follicle test in an attempt to combat that problem.

Today, urine tests have become extremely effective at detecting drugs and adulterants or other attempts to falsify these tests. Drug users still try, however, and discover the hard way that shouldn’t have been their chosen course of action.

The identification period is drug-specific and varies from mere hours up to three weeks or so. Marijuana is the exception to the rule as chronic users can test positive for THC for over thirty days.

These tests are cost-effective and produce accurate results. If the immunoassay (IA) test shows a positive result, the sample is sent for confirmation testing using the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MC) test. This test also specifies the drug(s) and drug level(s).

Results return in less than a week.

Mouth swab test

This method also goes by the names of saliva or oral fluid tests. It’s in the midrange in regard to the cost being more expensive than the urine test but less expensive than a hair test.

The mouth swab test detects recent and even current impairment for some drugs. The window of detection is the shortest of the three primary methods, however, only lasting up to seventy-two hours depending on the drug. For instance, marijuana is only detected on this test for about twenty-four hours no matter how often the drug is ingested.

Mouth swab testing technology is becoming more and more sophisticated and the results are extremely accurate. Consequently, it’s virtually impossible to switch the specimen as the test subject never leaves the testing technician’s sight. Moreover, attempts to falsify the test using mouthwashes or other adulterants claiming to mask or “detoxify” the drug metabolites in the body are false. The body is constantly producing saliva and it will be collected by the mouth swab.

At the lab, the mouth swab samples undergo an IA test and those yielding positive results go on for the GC/MS test for confirmation. The second test also determines the drug type and level found in the system.

Employers receive the results in a couple of days.

Hair follicle testing

The hair follicle test is unique in that it identifies any, and all, drug use for 90 days. It’s more expensive than either the urine or saliva drug tests. However, the extended detection period outweighs the cost in the eyes of many. Some employers in the trucking industry require their employees to submit to both the DOT drug test and the hair follicle test. They choose to incur the added expense of additional drug testing to have access to the extended detection period.

In addition, the hair follicle test is impossible to falsify. Drug metabolites store themselves throughout the body until excreted. Those that stow away in the hair follicle, actually grow out into the hair shaft becoming a part of the hair. Moreover, there’s no way to rid the hair of them or to cover them with a substance that will hide them from the test.

We determine the 90-day detection period by hair length. Human hair grows at the rate of about 1/2 inch per month. The standard test length for the hair follicle test is one and one-half inches. Thus, one and one-half inches equals ninety days. However, laboratories honor requests to extend the detection window even further by increasing the length of hair tested.

It won’t be much longer before the DOT drug test changes from the urine test to the hair follicle test. The request is currently making its way through the chain of command and isn’t expected to meet with resistance at any point along the way.

Comparatively, it takes about a week to receive results.

Drugs detected

The standard 5 panel employee drug test is widely used by employers of the general workforce. As its name implies, it accurately detects five commonly abused drugs in the workplace. The drugs identified on the test typically include amphetamines, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, and PCP.

However, some employers choose to use a more extensive test and look to the 9, 10, or 12 panel drug tests. USA Mobile Drug Testing offers these test panels, however, we don’t limit employers to the drug panels we place on them. Employers are free to swap a drug on the test panel for another, add additional drugs to the test panel they’ve chosen, or even create their own unique drug screen panel.

Moreover, we can test for all manner of drugs, including “specialty” drugs such as bath salts, K2, steroids, or synthetic opioids.

Some specific drug identification periods

We’ve mentioned that the specific length of drug detection varies, with the exception of the hair follicle test. Some examples of detection periods follow:

  • Amphetamines and methamphetamines are detected on the urine test for two or three days, but habitual use may show up for four days. The saliva test identifies amphetamines for twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
  • Barbiturates remain detectable in urine for up to three weeks and in the saliva for up to three days.
  • Benzodiazepines show up in urine tests for up to ten days and in the saliva for about two and a half days.
  • Cocaine is traceable in urine tests for up to three days and in the saliva for up to two days.
  • It takes a couple of hours for ecstasy to show up in a urine test and it can be identified between one and three days thereafter. Saliva tests pick up on ecstasy in as little as 15 minutes after taking the drug. It remains traceable for one or two days.
  • Synthetic opioids, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and hydromorphone, are identifiable in urine between two to four days. Saliva tests vary a bit more ranging from up to 12 to 48 hours depending on the frequency of use.
  • Methaqualone detection lasts up to three days when using a urine drug test. The saliva test detects this drug for at least one day, however, if used frequently it shows up for a longer period of time.

DOT information

The DOT (Department of Transportation) was created to regulate the safety-sensitive workforce through the following administrations.

  • Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
  • Federal Railroad Administration
  • Federal Aviation Administration
  • Federal Transit Administration
  • Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
  • United States Coast Guard

The goal of the DOT is to ensure the safety of the general public as they travel by land, air, or sea. One of the regulations includes safety-sensitive employee drug testing. Employers regulated by the DOT implement the following employee drug tests:

The DOT mandates the use of the urine drug test that includes a specific drug panel. However, it approved the oral fluid drug test for use as soon as there are two SAMHSA-certified laboratories to analyze oral fluid specimens. That’s expected to happen by early 2024 at the latest.

DOT drug test

The DOT drug test requires employers to test for five of the most commonly abused drugs in the workplace. They are amphetamines, opiates, cocaine, marijuana, and PCP (phencyclidine). However, in a direct attempt to combat the growing opiate addiction crisis plaguing our nation, they added four semi-synthetic opioids to the test panel in January 2018.

Hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone are highly addictive pain medications. Heavily prescribed by physicians for years, these drugs are highly addictive. Sadly, many who found themselves craving the drugs when they were no longer prescribed the medication turned to the black market. Or, perhaps, in an attempt to feed the addiction when their drug of choice became too costly, they turned to heroin use instead.

The DOT has long considered switching from the urine drug test to the hair follicle drug test. We previously stated that the official request is currently making its way through the chain of command. Many expect it to complete the process in the near future. In the meantime, the oral fluid test has been approved for use as soon as there are two SAMHSA-certified laboratories available to process the tests.

FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

The FMCSA Clearinghouse has been up and running for over three years now. It tracks safety-sensitive employees who have outstanding drug or alcohol violations. Employers no longer need to conduct manual inquiries with previous employers in addition to the Clearinghouse query. Only Clearinghouse queries are necessary.

Now, it’s virtually impossible for drivers with violations to obtain a job with a new employer by simply not listing the employer they worked for when receiving the violation. Furthermore, less-than-honest drivers with drug or alcohol violations can no longer pick up and move to another state to apply for a new CDL. The Clearinghouse links the driver to his old CDL, thereby, maintaining complete and accurate information.

Drivers from Canada and Mexico who transport goods in the U.S. must be listed in the database as well.

Once a driver completes their return to duty process, they will be allowed to operate a commercial motor vehicle again. However, records of drug and alcohol violations will remain on file in the Clearinghouse for five years or longer if the driver hasn’t yet completed the return to duty process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose my job if I refuse the random drug test at work?

If your employer has over 50 employees and does random drug tests, you’re supposed to take the test if your name comes up. Consequently, if you refuse, your employer has the right to follow the drug testing protocol set in place.

I’m an owner-operator, so it’s just me. Do I have to register for the Clearinghouse and submit a query on myself?

Yes, you have to be accounted for in the database. Your C/TPA (consortium/third-party administrator) can conduct your queries on your behalf. If there should be a drug or alcohol violation, the C/TPA is responsible for reporting to the Clearinghouse.

So, do I have a right to see what the Clearinghouse says about me?

Yes. Drivers can access the database free of charge at any time. Head over to the website to get signed up.

Medical marijuana is legal. I’ve got Crohn’s disease and have medical authorization to use it. What happens if I pop positive on the test though?

Employers hold the right to make that decision. What does your company’s drug policy say about marijuana? If they don’t stipulate allowing for medical conditions, they have no choice but to follow company policy. In most cases, employees are terminated.

Does everybody drug test now?

No. Not all employers test for drug use. But the majority do because maintaining a drug-free workplace is a way to ensure a safe work environment.

How long are drugs detected in my system?

It depends on the testing method your employer uses. The hair follicle test yields results for 90 days, up to 30 for the urine test, and the mouth swab test up to 72 hours. Detection times vary depending on the drug for urine and mouth swabs. But the hair test shows all drug use for 90 days.

I heard there is a breathalyzer for marijuana now. Is that true?

Several companies are in the testing phases. A THC-detecting breathalyzer will be a benefit to law enforcement and employers in states that are legalizing marijuana. This will enable them to know whether or not a person is currently impaired

If I drink lots of water before my urine test, will it come back negative?

If your urine is exceptionally diluted, it will probably come back with an inconclusive result.

I have a shy bladder, and I know this drug test is not going to “go” well. What do I do?

Lots of people have this problem. Talk to your HR department. There may be another method in place for situations like yours. If not, they may work with you to reach a solution, i.e., making a change in that protocol! Good luck!

My doctor prescribed my pain medication. Can he write me something that will be accepted by my employer if I get pulled for a random?

Nope. Drug-free is drug-free. If you are taking medication and a drug test pops positive, your employer will follow the company procedures set in place.

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