Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1002 – A. This Chapter applies to testing for the presence of marijuana, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines, and phencyclidine.
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1002
- CAP-FDT-certified laboratory: means a laboratory certified for forensic hair drug testing by the College of American Pathologists. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Donor: The person who makes a gift.
- Employee: means any person, paid or unpaid, in the service of an employer, as defined in this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
- Employer: means any person, firm, or corporation, including any governmental entity, that has one or more workers or operators employed, or individuals performing service, in the same business, or in or about the same establishment, under any contract of hire or service, expressed or implied, oral or written; however, "employer" for the purposes of this Chapter shall not include any person, firm, or corporation that is subject to a federally mandated drug testing program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
- negative employment consequences: include but are not limited to termination of employment, refusal to hire, or altered conditions of employment such as counseling, probation, suspension, and demotion. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Prospective employee: means any person who has made application to an employer, whether written or oral, to become an employee. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
- SAMHSA: means the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
- Sample: means urine, blood, saliva, or hair. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
- Screening test: means an immunoassay screen to eliminate "negative" specimens from further consideration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 49:1001
A. This Chapter applies to testing for the presence of marijuana, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines, and phencyclidine.
B. This Chapter does not preclude or regulate the testing for drugs other than those specified in Subsection A of this Section or other controlled substances as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 812, Schedules I, II, III, IV, and alcohol.
C. This Chapter shall not apply to treatment centers or physicians using drug testing to diagnose or monitor their patients, nor to any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the production and distribution of gas or electricity that is regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
D. This Chapter shall not apply to drug testing conducted under legal authority including testing of persons in the criminal justice systems, such as arrestees, detainees, probationers, incarcerated persons, or parolees.
E. This Chapter shall not apply to drug testing mandated by Federal Executive Order 12564.
F. This Chapter shall not apply to drug testing conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or the National Football League (NFL).
G. This Chapter shall not apply to any athlete who is currently being drug tested under the auspices of any recognized international, national, regional, or state governing authority.
H. This Chapter shall not apply to any person, firm, or corporation engaged or employed in the exploration, drilling, or production of oil or gas in Louisiana or its territorial waters. The initial cut-off level for marijuana testing of fifty nanograms per milliliter as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 49:1005(B) may be reduced or modified by any person, firm, or corporation engaged in construction, maintenance, or manufacturing at any refining or chemical manufacturing facility.
I. This Chapter shall not apply to any employer or an employer’s agent who uses an on-site screening test to test an employee or prospective employee when there are no negative employment consequences as defined in this Chapter. As used in this Subsection, “on-site screening test” is a screening test which is easily portable and which can be administered in a location outside a laboratory such as a work site or elsewhere and is certified by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for commercial distribution and which meets generally accepted cutoff levels such as those in the mandatory guidelines for federal workplace drug testing programs.
J. This Chapter does not preclude an employer or an employer’s agent from utilizing a USFDA-cleared specimen testing method that uses a sample as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 49:1001 provided that such sample is processed in a laboratory with a SAMHSA, CAP-FUDT, or CAP-FDT certification using generally accepted cutoff levels as established by the USFDA for the type of sample tested, or by SAMHSA at such time when SAMHSA implements a final rule to regulate the type of sample test. Any sample collected shall be subject to USFDA-cleared immunoassay screening and confirmation testing at a SAMHSA-certified, CAP-FUDT-certified, or CAP-FDT-certified laboratory. Such samples that test positive shall be preserved by the laboratory and available for challenge testing at the request of the donor. No sample shall be used to collect or analyze DNA.
Acts 1990, No. 1036, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 2001, No. 855, §1; Acts 2004, No. 901, §1, eff. July 12, 2004; Acts 2006, No. 209, §1; Acts 2008, No. 150, §1; Acts 2015, No. 74, §1.