According to new data from Quest Diagnostics, nearly one in five American workers tested positive for drug use in long-term screenings last year, driven by a rise in cannabis consumption. This trend is forcing companies to reevaluate their hiring practices. The data shows that 19.1 percent of workers screened via hair analysis in 2025 returned a positive result, representing a 46 percent increase from 2021. Marijuana accounted for 52.5 percent of those positive hair tests.
As more states legalize marijuana, positive drug test results are reaching some of their highest levels in years. Traditional urine tests showed that the overall rate for all drugs combined held steady at 4.3 percent last year. However, positive results specifically for marijuana rose to 4.4 percent, up from 3.9 percent in 2021. Tests that look back further reveal even higher numbers, with positive hair tests for marijuana jumping nearly 60 percent over a five-year period.
The rise in positive test results is changing how corporate leaders view the drug. Outside of safety-sensitive fields like trucking and construction, a growing number of employers now treat marijuana similarly to alcohol, focusing on whether a worker is impaired on the clock, rather than what they do in their free time. Many companies have also dropped pre-employment screenings entirely due to the difficulty of finding qualified workers.
A survey of nearly 1,000 employers conducted by the employment law firm Fisher Phillips found that roughly half of the companies no longer screen job candidates for marijuana before hiring them. Among the employers who kept the testing policies in place, 44 percent said it made recruiting harder, and nearly a quarter said they were considering loosening their rules. Major corporations like Amazon, Home Depot, and Citigroup have already shifted away from pre-hire testing for roles that do not involve public safety.
However, companies hiring for roles involving public safety are sticking with strict drug testing and are increasingly turning to saliva tests instead of traditional urine screens. Quest Diagnostics reported that 11.1 percent of oral fluid tests came back positive for marijuana last year. The use of alternative testing methods like hair and oral fluid is becoming more popular due to their resistance to tampering or substitution.
The shift in corporate policies is further complicated by different state rules, with some states like New York barring companies from testing most job applicants and employees for the drug altogether. Federal rules could also change down the line, with the acting U.S. attorney general signing an order to reclassify medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug under federal law.
