DOT OFFICE OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICY AND COMPLIANCE NOTICE
On December 18, 2025, the President of the United States issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Justice to complete the rescheduling process of marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). We have had inquiries about what impact this Executive Order will have on the Department of Transportation's longstanding regulation about the use of marijuana by safety‐sensitive transportation employees – pilots, school bus drivers, truck drivers, train engineers, subway operators, aircraft maintenance personnel, transit fire‐armed security personnel, ship captains, and pipeline emergency response personnel, among others. First – marijuana is still a Schedule I drug under the CSA until any rescheduling is complete. It remains unacceptable for any safety‐sensitive employee subject to drug testing under the Department of Transportation's drug testing regulations to use marijuana. Second – until the rescheduling process is complete, the Department of Transportation's drug testing process and regulations will not change. Transportation employees in safety-sensitive positions will still be subject to testing for marijuana. Furthermore, the Department's guidance on medical and recreational marijuana and CBD are still in effect. Laboratories, Medical Review Officers and Substance Abuse Professionals must continue to follow 49 CFR Part 40. There are no changes to your roles and responsibilities as they relate to marijuana. We will continue to monitor the rescheduling process and update the transportation industry as appropriate. We want to assure the traveling public that our transportation system is the safest it can possibly be.
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DOT’s Notice on Testing for Marijuana
DEA’s Fentanyl Free America Campaign
On December 3, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. This effort underscores DEA's unwavering commitment to protecting American lives and communities from the devastating impacts of fentanyl, which claimed nearly 50,000 lives last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Learn more about Fentanyl Free America at www.dea.gov/fentanylfree. Fentanyl Free America encompasses and builds on the work of the One Pill Can Kill campaign and the DEA's other community outreach and prevention support initiatives. Your help in raising awareness about the Fentanyl Free America initiative is greatly appreciated. A toolkit of community outreach resources can be found at: https://www.dea.gov/fentanylfree/promote. We encourage you to please share this email and information with friends, family and members of your community.
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Updated 'Employer Handbook'
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) has updated the "What Employers Need to Know About DOT Drug and Alcohol Testing" guidelines, also known as the 'Employer Handbook'. Last revised in June 2015, this new version can be viewed at http://www.dot.gov/odapc/employer_handbook. A summary of the changes made to the 'Employer Handbook' can be found on the last page of the booklet.
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DOT Publishes Notice of Proposed Rule Making
Published in today's Federal Register (FR) is a Department of Transportation Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The NPRM is available on the FR web page at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-09-02/pdf/2025-16720.pdf. Today, we will post it on the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) webpage at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/frpubs. The proposals in the NPRM include:
The comment period for the NPRM closes on October 17, 2025. Comments to the docket can be submitted using this link https://www.regulations.gov/docket/DOT-OST-2025-0049/document.
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DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day: April 26, 2025
DEA's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, to be held on Saturday, April 26, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposal while educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. In addition, Take Back Day provides an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths. This is a great opportunity for those who missed previous events or have accumulated unwanted, unused prescription drugs to dispose of those medications easily and safely. For more information, including a Collection Site Locator, public service announcements, resources and treatment information, please visit DEA's website https://takebackday.dea.gov/.
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DOT Oral Fluid Specimen Collection Procedures Guidelines
The Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) is pleased to announce the release of the "DOT Oral Fluid Specimen Collection Procedures Guidelines." On May 2, 2023, The Department of Transportation (DOT) published a final rule that authorizes employers to use oral fluid drug testing as an alternative methodology to urine drug testing. As part of that rule, DOT requires that to be permitted to act as an oral fluid collector in the DOT drug testing program, an individual must (among other things) be knowledgeable about the current "DOT Oral Fluid Specimen Collection Procedures Guidelines." The new Guidelines provide guidance concerning normal oral fluid collection procedures and some of the more common problems or situations that may be encountered during an oral fluid collection. It is important to note that the information contained in the Guidelines is not intended to be used to interpret or be viewed as adding to or modifying the legal requirements of Part 40. The document can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/oral_fluid_collector.
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