Amazon says it will no longer include marijuana in its drug screenings for some workers

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Amazon says it will no longer include marijuana in its drug screenings for some workers
Matty Merritt.Matty Merritt

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In an attempt to overthrow the DQ that doesn't limit how many brownie blizzards you can eat as your town's best employer, Amazon announced it would no longer include marijuana in its drug screenings for some workers. So unless your position is regulated by the Department of Transportation, Amazon said it will treat marijuana like alcohol (should make for an interesting office holiday party).

  • Other employers like Hospitality Ventures, a management group that runs Marriott and Hilton hotels, have also dropped marijuana testing to attract already hard-to-find staff.

Everyone's doing it. Last year, of the seven million drug tests conducted for employers by Quest Diagnostics, around 2.7% came back positive for marijuana. The number has been rising slowly, from 2% in 2016, as more states legalize recreational use.

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Speaking of legalization, Dave Clark, Amazon's consumer boss, said the company supports legislation to decriminalize cannabis and encouraged other companies to get with it.

Big picture: Amazon hopes its cool weed aunt energy, recent wage increases, and the introduction of a (poorly received) cry box will neutralize the slew of criticism it's gotten around unsafe working conditions.

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