[kaybe]

Are employer drugtests common in the US, even for non-critical work?

[mrbill]

I heard through the grapevine that one of my employers (who drug tested at time of hire, but not after that) said "I can't do random testing, I'd lose half my staff."

Another one joked that "We used to drug test at hire, and if you didn't come up positive for ANYTHING, we'd fire you." That was based in a state where medical MJ is legal, and their drug policy was the most reasonable I'd ever seen. "What you do on your own time is your business, and we only start caring if it affects your work performance or interactions with coworkers during work hours."

Meanwhile, the place where I spent 12 years not only tested at hire, you were under the constant "threat" of "random" testing, and the same policies applied to everyone - from rig workers and truck drivers, to programmers. The only time I got "randomly" tested was after a coworker on my team had blown his "random" test... A couple of weeks later I was "randomly" selected; at least HR had a sense of humor about it. "You won the piss test lottery! Go down to XYZ as soon as you get in this morning and pee in a jar..."

This meant that my first and only time I've ever tried MJ was at the age of 40.

[rconti]

The crappier the job, the more likely that it drug tests.

And, of course, safety-reliant jobs like truck drivers, warehouse staff, etc.

[chillwaves]

This. The only jobs I ever got tested for where the ones not worth having.

[byuu]

Yes, very much so. Aside from fast food, pretty much all jobs I've ever had required them (including retail and grocery.)