Report: Home Depot eliminates marijuana drug testing for employees

By Steve Gelsi

Internal memo banning cannabis testing is published on Reddit

Home Depot Corp. will stop testing many of its roughly 400,000 U.S. employees for marijuana, according to a report released this week.

The policy, which takes effect on September 1, is an extension of a policy already in place in nine U.S. states under which adult-use cannabis reforms have led to a ban on marijuana testing.

The change was first reported by Marijuana Moment, which cited an image of the internal memo posted on social media site Reddit (RDDT). (See below)

The ban on marijuana screenings includes drug testing after accidents and when there is reasonable suspicion.

Cannabis will no longer be taken into account in drug tests of elevator and material operators after accidents or when there is reasonable suspicion.

However, drug testing will continue to be conducted for employees subject to U.S. Department of Transportation requirements in aviation.

Home Depot will suspend testing for applicants seeking employment with the company, with the exception of asset protection and corporate security positions.

Home Depot spokespeople did not respond to emails and voicemails from MarketWatch.

The people who posted comments on Reddit were mostly in favor of this move.

“Smoke as much as you like, but please do not operate machinery if it causes you to become altered,” read one poster.

Another said it would be a good idea to eliminate cannabis screenings for employment requirements in the first place.

“What someone does at home in their free time has literally nothing to do with work performance,” the person said.

Another post asked if people fired for marijuana use could possibly get their jobs back.

A separate post said: “Obviously they are having a hard time finding drivers, let alone employees.”

Another post said the company stopped marijuana testing months ago and is in the process of formalizing its policy.

Home Depot (HD) stock fell 0.2% on Friday. The stock is down 2.4% this week but is up nearly 6% so far in 2024, while the S&P 500 SPX is up about 17.4%.

-Steve Gelsi

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

30.08.24 1214 ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.