Marijuana Education for Drug and Alcohol Awareness Training for DOT Supervisors

Marijuana Education for Drug and Alcohol Awareness Training for DOT Supervisors

Cannabis is an illegal drug of abuse according to the Federal government – federally, it is illegal in every state, but many states have made marijuana legal for various purposes or it has been decriminalized.

It isn’t necessary for supervisors to be educated in all of the controversies associated with marijuana. The essentials are that it is prohibited by the U.S. Department of Transportation for employees in safety-sensitive positions to use it who are subject to drug testing under federal regulations. And, of course, supervisors should know what it looks like, the signs and symptoms of its use, how it is used, effects of use on the individual, and the hazards of marijuana use in the workplace.

It is helpful for supervisors to have more information about the use of marijuana for a couple reasons. The first is that many employees use it, and some nearly worship pot as a psychoactive drug which makes their world go round. Supervisors are vulnerable to the many arguments people give for using pot, so it’s important to arm them with a little bit of awareness so they aren’t manipulated away from referring someone for a drug test.

It especially important to eliminate confusion and reduce risk to the employer by educating supervisors.

Cannabis education and awareness for supervisors does not have to be complicated. Here is a quick list of educational objectives for your reasonable suspicion training program, and it can be accomplished in minutes.

• Description of cannabis and what it is, how it is used, and its psychoactive effects

• Hazards of use in the workplace and signs and symptoms of use by employees

Given the many controversies associated with marijuana, helping supervisors understand the following can aide them when employees attempt arguments to dissuade referral to testing

• Prescription medications exist to treat any condition that medical marijuana is designed to relieve although most people are unaware of these medications.

• There are three drugs based on non-psychoactive THC and at least five more that are being research for eventual approval, all of which treat conditions medicinal marijuana is supposed to treat. The pot lobby does not want people to know about these medications and does not promote their use.

• The American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM) – the nation’s foremost authority on addiction, substance abuse, and treatment does not yet endorse or support the use of marijuana for any medical condition (although they are not opposed to research toward identifying how marijuana may be helpful in treating certain conditions.)

• Marijuana associated social problems and the negative effects on legalization are innumerable, and the best source of understanding these harmful effects are published each year in the “ https://www.thenmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/RMHIDTA-Marijuana-Report-2020-2.pdf ”

• The three FDA-approved drugs are Marinol, Cesamet, and Syndros. Syndros is especially effective, and it has the potential to counter any of the pot lobby’s arguments for the legalization of medical marijuana. The only thing it can’t address is politics of marijuana legalization.
  
  See this video and download the supervisor training program to own the DOT Reasonable Suspicion Training Program here.

See This is a small section of the Reasonable Suspicion Training program and it shows how we discuss marijuana to make an impact on supervisors very briefly the marijuana reality.