Trending Topics

FDNY ceases random, scheduled and pre-employment testing for marijuana

According to Local 854, like the department’s alcohol policy, there will be testing for cause if a member is thought to be impaired on the job

FDNYmemo71322.png

By FireRescue1 staff

NEW YORK — The FDNY announced on Wednesday that it will no longer test for marijuana at random or pre-employment screening.

The Uniformed Fire Officers Association (IAFF Local 854) tweeted the news, sharing a picture of an FDNY Bureau of Operations memo distributed to all boroughs from Chief of Operations John Esposito.

The memo reads in full: “The New York City Law Department has issued guidance that prohibits adverse employment actions on off-duty marijuana usage. This will change pre-employment, random and scheduled drug testing policies for marijuana. Use of any substance while at work still remains strictly prohibited. Guidance on these changes will be disseminated in the next 14 days.”

FDNYmemo71322.png

UFOA noted that, like the fire department’s alcohol policy, there will be testing for “cause” if a member is thought to be impaired.

Trending
More than 200 first responders battled the two-story row home blaze for about three hours, with four victims dying at the scene and two more pronounced dead at the hospital, as fire marshals investigate a lithium-ion battery found at the scene
Aurora Engine 7 arrived to find smoke showing from the second floor and a resident reporting a child trapped in an Elkhart Way apartment
A 2019 memo warning that AI could introduce bias based on accents, disabilities and race went unaddressed before the department began using the technology on live 911 medical calls in 2023, prompting experts to call for suspending its use until a public evaluation is completed
Officials confirmed thermal runaway from batteries stored in plastic toolboxes on a third-floor porch sparked the May Dorchester fire that killed 24-year veteran Robert “Bobby” Kilduff Jr.

Related content