Delaware Drug Screening

If you need a drug test, you can call for an immediate appointment.  Drug testing is available for school admissions, court ordered drug testing, probation, parole, divorce, drug testing of teenagers, student drug testing and drug testing just for personal reasons.  National drug screening centers are open daily for drug and alcohol testing.

If you have to pass a drug test, you need to get a drug test to see where you are.  Our national drug screen centers are available for drug testing for immediate service.  Our focus is compliance with Federal and SAMHSA regulations and Delaware laws on drug testing.  A drug test from our national drug screen centers will give you peace of mind that you get qualified drug test results reviewed and verified by a medical review officer (MRO).

In Delaware for the most part there are no restrictions for drug testing, Delaware is a friendly state for employer drug free workplace programs.  National drug testing can help employers can write and implement a comprehensive drug free workplace policy.  Certain industries in Delaware require drug testing programs.  Those include harness racing, Department of Corrections, home healthcare and nursing homes.

Delaware has a medical marijuana law.  Marijuana cultivation is not permitted, but possession of up to 6 ounces is allowed for patients that are registered for medical marijuana.  Of course for DOT required drug testing, marijuana is still strictly prohibited for truck drivers, airline employee, pipeline employees, bus drivers, railroad employees, transit agency employees and employees of vessels for hire.

The Delaware Act is noteworthy, in that it extends certain employment protections to medical marijuana users. Only a few other states have done so, but it is likely that more will follow.

Unlike the majority of medical marijuana statutes, the Act includes provisions that afford additional protections to employees. Specifically, the Act prevents employers from discriminating against an employee “in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person” for his “status as a cardholder” or because of a “positive drug test for marijuana components or metabolites.”

While granting these protections, the Act qualifies the protections in two ways. First, the statute exempts employers from compliance if it would “cause an employer to lose a monetary or licensing related benefit under federal law or federal regulations.” For example DOT regulated companies. Second, despite the Act’s protections, an employee can be disciplined if he “used, possessed, or was impaired by marijuana on the premises of the place of employment or during the hours of employment.”  The Act emphasizes that it does not require employers “to allow the ingestion of marijuana in any workplace or to allow any employee to work while under the influence of marijuana,” with the caveat that “a registered qualifying patient shall not be considered to be under the influence of marijuana solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana.”  Beyond this statement, the statute does not define a punishable level of marijuana or its metabolites.

Delaware is in the minority as the majority of medical marijuana statutes offer no explicit protection to registered users in the employment context.  Claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have also failed, as marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law and its use is not protected under the ADA.

The challenge with marijuana usage is that there is no set measure that is used to determine how much marijuana is in someone’s system.  So here are some recommendations for employers when dealing with medical marijuana in Delaware:

1. Marijuana usage in the workplace is specifically prohibited and employees using marijuana in the workplace can be subject to discipline.
2. Federal laws and requirements for drug testing such as the DOT drug and alcohol testing program overrides the state law.
3. Supervisor training for reasonable suspicion drug testing and determining the signs and symptoms of an employee being under the influence is critical to minimize exposure to liability.  Employers must have documentation of why they believed an employee was under the influence and a positive drug test for marijuana would not be enough.
4. Employers should review and update their drug free workplace policies.  Policies should include that it is a violation of company policy for an employee to engage in the illegal and improper use of drugs in the workplace.

Employers should not wait until they have a situation regarding a marijuana drug test which is positive and the employee is a cardholder.  Address these issues in advance with a properly written drug free workplace policy. In Delaware employers should revise their substance abuse policies to make sure they conform to state law and ensure that employees who are qualified patients are not disciplined solely on the basis of a failed drug test

Employees in Delaware must be aware that failing a drug test could cause denial of unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation benefits, or disability benefits.  In Delaware, workers compensation benefits can be denied if accident or injury resulted from intoxication; the burden is on the employer to prove the intoxication was the cause of the accident or injury.  Supervisors should have training and document all incidents and all suspicions of drug or alcohol use in the workplace.

The Delaware workers comp law states: If any employee is injured as a result of the employee’s own intoxication, because of the employee’s deliberate and reckless indifference to danger, because of the employee’s wilful intention to bring about the injury or death of the employee or of another, because of the employee’s wilful failure or refusal to use a reasonable safety appliance provided for the employee or to perform a duty required by statute, the employee shall not be entitled to recover damages in an action at law or to compensation or medical, dental, optometric, chiropractic or hospital service under the compensatory provisions of this chapter. The burden of proof under this subsection shall be on the employer.

Post accident drug and alcohol testing should always be conducted.  Since property damage or personal injury may result from accidents, testing following an accident can help determine whether drugs and/or alcohol were a factor.  It is important to establish objective criteria that will trigger a post-accident test and how and by whom they will be determined and documented.  Examples of criteria used by employers include:  fatalities; injuries that require anyone to be removed from the scene for medical care; damage to vehicles or property above a specified monetary amount; and citations issued by the police.  Although the results of a post-accident test determine drug use, a positive test result in and of itself cannot prove that drug use caused an accident.  When post-accident testing is conducted, it is a good idea for employers not to allow employees involved in any accident to return to work prior to or following the testing.  Employers also need to have guidelines to specify how soon following an accident testing must occur so results are relevant.  Substances remain in a person’s system for various amounts of time, and it is usually recommended that post-accident testing be done within 12 hours.  Some employers expand the test trigger to incidents even if an accident or injury was averted and hence use term “post-incident.”

Although Delaware does not have a mandatory workplace drug testing law, there are several laws that require specific industries to conduct drug testing.  Below is a list of some of those industries and the laws that apply.

Specific Industries Requiring Drug Testing in Delaware

1. Home healthcare – Title 16 § 1146 requires employers to conduct pre-employment testing of all applicants to home healthcare positions.  The only exception is a self-employed individual seeking employment from a private person in his or her private residence.  Testing must follow Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) regulations.
2. Nursing home – Title 16 § 1142 requires employers to conduct pre-employment testing of all applicants for nursing home positions.  An employer who does not conduct pre-employment testing in the nursing home industry is subject to a fine between $1,000 and $5,000.  Testing must follow DHSS regulations.
3. School bus drivers and aids – Title 14 § 2910 requires the Department of Education to conduct testing of school bus drivers and aids.  The types of testing include pre-employment, reasonable suspicion, random, and post-accident testing.
4. Uniformed service officers of Justice of the Peace Court – Although this is a much narrower industry specific law, it is of note because it was just passed into law in July 2014.  SB 169 provides for pre-employment, random, and reasonable suspicion testing of employees and applicants.  It allows the Justice of the Peace Court to develop its own regulations concerning if and how it would discipline employees, which could include a state employee assistance program.

If you need a drug test today, you can call National Drug Screening for immediate service.  Our drug testing facilities and patient service centers are open daily for drug testing.  Call today and get a drug test scheduled today.  Many individuals need a drug test for various reasons and our drug test centers can help you today.

Drug Testing Centers are open daily and provide drug and alcohol testing for individuals.

Drug testing is available for: court ordered programs, probation, legal cases, divorce, child custody and required testing for colleges and universities.

All major laboratories are utilized including Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics, Alere Toxicology, Clinical Reference Labs (CRL) and Medtox. All laboratory patient service centers and collection sites are available for immediate testing.

Your drug test can be scheduled today with one easy phone call. Drug testing locations are available and convenient to where you live and work. An easy process – it is confidential and secure.

Negative drug test results are available next business day after specimen collection. Your results are reported back to you with fast turnaround by e-mail, fax, or US Mail.