The Michigan Civil Service Commission voted unanimously to partially lift a longstanding ban on hiring state employees who fail preemployment drug screens for marijuana.
A five-year high of 151 applicants who applied for state jobs failed for the presence of marijuana in 2022, according to data provided by the Office of the State Employer (OSE). The number more than doubled from 2021 and the state recorded 351 pre-employment failures for marijuana since it was legalized for recreational use in 2018. Of 83 failed pre-employment drug tests this year, 81 were for marijuana.
Marijuana testing will remain in place for a large swath of government employees, including health workers, state police and Michigan Department of Corrections officers. But effective Oct. 1 eliminates the requirement for office staff and those applying for positions that don’t require driving, operation of heavy machinery or handling of hazardous materials.
The change also eliminates current rules that ban applicants who previously failed a drug test for marijuana from applying for another state job for three years.
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