The National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association presented a focused, credible case-in-chief on behalf of the drug and alcohol testing industry, with witnesses who delivered concentrated testimony on how rescheduling would affect workplace safety programs nationwide.
Patrice M. Kelly, the longest-serving director of the Department of Transportation’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, testified on the need for a safety carveout to protect employer testing programs, particularly for safety-sensitive positions. Few witnesses at this hearing can match her regulatory authority on the subject. Notably, the government suggested that any safety concerns could be addressed by executive order, perhaps an acknowledgment that the concerns themselves are legitimate.
Jo McGuire, NDASA’s executive director and a nationally recognized authority on drug-free workplace policy, was the day’s most compelling witness. McGuire, who has advised the United Nations General Assembly on global drug agreements and served on Colorado’s Amendment 64 task force, wove her family’s marijuana experience into her testimony, a moving account that detailed the burdens rescheduling would impose on her industry. The government’s cross-examination lasted only a few minutes and drew little blood.
NDASA’s testimony was among the hearing’s most persuasive: a reminder that rescheduling’s consequences would reach far beyond dispensaries and into every workplace where safety depends on sobriety.