There’s endless chatter within American manufacturing about the skills gap.

“I can’t find people,” employers say. “I can’t find good people, or the right people.” Well, the elephant in the room when it comes to hiring is drugs. More specifically, narcotics.

Several sources are reporting that test failure rates of over 30% amongst applicants who pass the interview and are offered jobs in America manufacturing. What’s going on? Is narcotics use so epidemic in America that almost a third of employable adults are high? While that seems unlikely, the undeniable fact is that ‘soft’ drugs like marijuana are not only legal in places like Colorado, they are also increasingly viewed as a recreational substance equivalent to alcohol in terms of health risk and social stability. Many, many Americans are smoking marijuana after working, or on weekends. And with today’s drug testing technology, it’s possible to detect infinitesimally small quantities of residual THC in an applicant’s body, long after they consumed marijuana. So, what we do?

Well, restricting the access to marijuana has been a costly failure, and so far, jurisdictions where it’s legal don’t seem to have seen a significant increase in negative effects socially or economically. Legalization is highly likely to spread. That, of course, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to operate a 5-axis machining center or forklift truck when impaired by any substance, legal or illegal. Anyone has been in manufacturing for any length of time knows that a small percentage of every team contains some form of substance abuse problem, commonly alcohol. Unions like the UAW recognize it to and have programs in place to help those workers. In many jurisdictions, when identified, the employer is responsible for providing substance abuse counseling and remediation programs.

That’s all fine, but when it comes to hiring, the hard fact is that your next candidate, possibly an ideal candidate, may well be using drugs recreationally. Ultimately, I predict that we as manufacturers are going to have to adjust our expectations to set threshold levels for drug tests that account for off shift and weekend use of ‘soft’ drugs like marijuana. That’s not to say that we should endorse the consumption of narcotics in any form. I don’t smoke marijuana. I don’t recommend that anyone should. But a good, productive, factory worker who shows up reliably, sober and productive for every shift is an undeniable asset. What they do in their spare time is nobody’s business but their own. Companies with a more enlightened policy on marijuana may be able to cherry-pick great applicants, turned down by more traditional manufacturers, to their benefit.

But let’s be clear: just like cigarette smoking, I don’t advocate for or foresee any environment where even marijuana use can or should be tolerated in the workplace. Nor can I foresee any circumstance where a worker clocking in high or drunk will be tolerated. But it happens. In my career, more than once I have sent a line worker home for alcohol intoxication. I expect the same will happen with marijuana. Get over it. We have work to do.

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