Learn more about Kristen Billingsley at
www.kbs-community.com
when Billingsley is around children or dogs. “I did a love meditation one day and then went to my daughter’s school for a Valentine’s Day party. The kids just ran to me, because they are very adept at sensing that energy of love.” An energy of love. Isn’t that what our most precious
cargo needs?
The Bad: Perils Remain with Some ‘Herbal Remedies’ Increasingly, marijuana, CBD oil and related products
are marketed for their medicinal effects. But for school bus drivers wanting to keep their jobs, they must defi- nitely steer clear of the former and use extreme caution with if not outright resist the latter. And with the grow- ing legality of marijuana and increasing number of products with CBD oil, knowing what to consume or avoid is becoming harder to determine. While the federal government continues to ban the
use of marijuana by commercial drivers, CBD is muddy- ing the waters. Some CBD products contain THC, while others do not. As of this writing, 37 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of medical marijua- na, while 21 have legalized recreational use. According to an STN article from October 2019, there are no current federal regulations that require manufacturers or distrib- utors of CBD oil products to maintain quality standards, consistent potency and ingredient levels, packaging and distribution records, cleanliness, infection control procedures, and a host of other requirements that all U.S. medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers must follow. Even prescription pain medications are usually not
tolerated and require a driver to stay out of work. This can turn into a vicious circle of having a work-related injury, being on medication and/or physical therapy, and com- ing back to work and starting the cycle all over again. Transportation directors and consultants consistently warn drivers that failing a drug test and losing your job isn’t worth trying a pain medication containing CBD oil, but it is understandable that people get to the point where they are willing to try anything for some pain relief. At the National Association of State Directors of Pupil
Transportation Services national conference last October in Washington, D.C., Chris Ellison, the director of trans- portation for David Douglas School District in Portland, Oregon, discussed the adverse impact of marijuana. He noted that recreational cannabis use is legal in Oregon, but it’s illegal for school bus drivers anywhere to partake. Earlier that month, the Biden administration pardoned thousands of U.S. citizens convicted of simple marijuana possession, in violation of the federal Controlled Sub- stance Act or District of Columbia law. He encouraged the 50 state governors to do the same and asked Health
34 School Transportation News • FEBRUARY 2023
and Human Services to review why marijuana is clas- sified as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin and LSD. Ellison asked the NASDPTS audience to begin thinking about how declassifying marijuana at the federal level might impact their operations. The National Transportation Safety Board adopted
SRR-22-02 in December, in which the agency examined the crash risk associated with different drugs, including alcohol, and the prevalence of their use among driv- ers. Jana Price, one of the study researchers, explained to STN that the study dealt with all drivers and did not specifically focus on commercial drivers or school bus drivers.
“The study found that cannabis (as well as alcohol and
several other drugs) can impair driving performance and increase crash risk,” Price added. “Our recommendations are geared towards both preventing drug-impaired driving, for example, through better labeling and enhanced enforcement, and doing a better job of tracking its prevalence. It didn’t take a position on whether cannabis should be legal or on Schedule I.“ Meanwhile, Ellison explained that the Oregon Pupil
Transportation Association created a training video on how using marijuana just one time after work hours could lead to a crash the very next day while transport- ing students. He said that districts need to have standard operating
procedures in place when a driver is tested for marijuana by reasonable suspicion. He said if they test positive, it could be a six-month process before they could drive again, based on the return-to-duty requirements. Ellison added that he started telling potential driver ap-
plicants that the district will drug test, and he follows up by asking if that will be an issue. “If the applicant is of the quality, and says they are willing to give it up, I tell them to come back in six months,” he explained. Also discussed at the NASDPTS conference was the
national drug and alcohol clearinghouse for commercial drivers. In January 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) created the online database, where CDL driver’s drug and alcohol testing violations and return-to-duty information can be stored and searched. This includes both truckers and school bus drivers. The FMCSA’s public affairs department stated that the clearinghouse data doesn’t distinguish school bus drivers from other CDL holders. As of December, ap- proximately 117,000 CDL drivers were prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle based on a drug or alcohol violation. There was no data available to de- termine if the legalization of marijuana by many states and resulting, related products have caused an uptick in the number of drivers in the clearinghouse. ●
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