Amazon will no longer test some job applicants for cannabis and backs federal legalisation of drug

E-commerce giant says its policy team will actively support MORE Act

‘Given where state laws are moving across the US, we’ve changed course,’ says Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO, Dave Clark (Getty)

Amazon will no longer reject some job candidates who test positive for cannabis in a shake-up of the company's drugs policy.

The new measures, however, do not apply to positions that are regulated by the US Department of Transport.

In a message to colleagues earlier this week, Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO, Dave Clark, said: “We’re adjusting our drug testing policy.

“In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use.”

He added: “However, given where state laws are moving across the US, we’ve changed course.”

Mr Clark said that in the future, Amazon will treat cannabis the same as alcohol use.

The Jeff Bezos-run e-commerce giant will continue to carry out impairment checks on the job and will “test for all drugs and alcohol” after any incident on-site.

Amazon also said it will support ongoing efforts to legalise marijuana at the federal level.

Mr Clark said that the firm will be actively supporting The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act) 2021, which also aims to expunge criminal records and invest in impacted communities affected by the drug.

Amazon was hit with a proposed class-action suit, which claimed that the company was violating a New York City law by testing applicants for jobs at local facilities for cannabis, according to a report by legal research service Westlaw.

The company does not allow marijuana sales on its platform.

While many US states have legalised cannabis use, employers have so far largely refused to work with the industry as the drug is still a classified substance at the federal level.