Alaska drug testing laws for employers: pre-employment testing rules (2026)

Alaska has a drug and alcohol testing statute for private employers, AS 23.10.600 to 23.10.699, but following it is voluntary. An employer that adopts a written policy and tests the way the statute describes is protected from damages suits over good-faith actions based on a positive result. Under that program an employer may test job applicants for drugs, must tell them they will be tested, pays for the test, and may not rely on a positive unless a GC/MS confirmation has been reviewed by a licensed physician. Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older, but the adult-use law leaves employers free to restrict it, as of October 2026.

Alaska drug testing rules at a glance

Does Alaska have a drug testing law for employers?

Yes, but it is an opt-in program rather than a mandate. Section 23.10.615 says it plainly: "Compliance with AS 23.10.600 - 23.10.699 by employers is voluntary." The statute defines an employer as a person who employs one or more full-time employees (AS 23.10.699(5)), and it defines drugs by reference to substances unlawful under AS 11.71.

What an employer gets for following it is protection from litigation. Under AS 23.10.600, once an employer has established a testing policy and started a program under the statute, a person may not sue it for damages over "actions in good faith based on the results of a positive drug test," and a claim built on a false positive fails unless the employer knew or clearly should have known the result was wrong. Section 23.10.610 limits defamation and similar claims to cases where results were disclosed beyond the people entitled to them, negligently, and were false. An employer that tests outside the statute is not breaking it, but it gives up those protections.

What must an Alaska testing policy include?

Under AS 23.10.620, testing may happen only after the employer adopts a written policy and informs employees of it, by handing out copies or using the same channels as its other personnel practices, such as a handbook or a posting. The employer "shall inform prospective employees that they must undergo drug testing." At a minimum, the policy must state:

1. the employer's policy on drug and alcohol use by employees;
2. which employees or prospective employees are subject to testing;
3. the circumstances under which testing may be required;
4. the substances that may be tested for;
5. the testing methods and collection procedures, including the right to a confirmatory test reviewed by a licensed physician or doctor of osteopathy after an initial positive;
6. the consequences of refusing to take part;
7. any adverse personnel action that may follow;
8. an employee's right to written results within five working days of a written request made within six months of the test;
9. an employee's right to explain a positive result in a confidential setting, requested in writing within 10 working days of notice, with the meeting held within 72 hours or before adverse action; and
10. the employer's confidentiality policy for results.

The policy must identify the positions subject to testing, and the employer must decide which part of its work force to test "based on consideration of safety for employees, customers, clients, or the public at large." A new program may not start until at least 30 days after the employer notifies employees of its intent and makes copies of the policy available (subsection (e)).

How can you test a job applicant in Alaska?

• Drugs only, not alcohol. AS 23.10.630(a) says an employer may test an employee for drugs or alcohol impairment, but "may test a prospective employee for the presence of drugs." The statute defines a prospective employee as anyone who has applied, in writing or orally (AS 23.10.699(7)); it does not require a job offer first.
• Sample type. The employer may require urine, oral fluid or breath and reliable identification, and may choose the sample type (AS 23.10.630(b)).
• Employer pays. The employer pays "the entire actual costs" of testing required of employees and prospective employees (AS 23.10.630(d)).
• Collection. The collector labels the sample and lets the person tested provide relevant medical information, including current or recent prescription and nonprescription drugs (AS 23.10.640(a)).
• Laboratory. Except for on-site tests, testing is done at a laboratory approved or certified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or the College of American Pathologists (AS 23.10.640(c)).
• Confirmation and physician review. Every positive, including an on-site positive, must be confirmed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The employer may not rely on a positive until a licensed physician or doctor of osteopathy has reviewed it, contacted the person within 48 hours, evaluated it for legal use, and reported prescription-caused results as negative (AS 23.10.640(d)). Federal HHS cutoffs apply where they exist; for other drugs the policy must state the cutoff (subsection (e)).
• On-site tests. Section 23.10.645 allows FDA-approved on-site tests of employees and prospective employees, administered by someone trained and certified in writing by the manufacturer (AS 23.10.650(b)), with the specimen kept in the person's sight and a written record of the result.
• Refusal and positives. Under AS 23.10.655, an employer may refuse to hire a prospective employee based on a positive drug test that violates its written policy or on a refusal to provide a sample.
• Confidentiality. Results are confidential and privileged, shared only with the person tested, someone they designate in writing, the employer's designated reviewers, or as ordered by a court or agency (AS 23.10.660).

Can Alaska employers test applicants for marijuana?

Yes. Alaska voters legalized adult-use marijuana in AS 17.38; under AS 17.38.020, possessing and using one ounce or less is lawful for people 21 or older. The same chapter keeps the employer's position intact. AS 17.38.220(a) says nothing in it "is intended to require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, sale, or growing of marijuana in the workplace or to affect the ability of employers to have policies restricting the use of marijuana by employees."

The medical marijuana chapter goes the same way. AS 17.37.040(d) says it does not require "any accommodation of any medical use of marijuana" in any place of employment. We found no Alaska statute that bars a pre-employment THC test or protects off-duty use the way Minnesota or New York do. If you test for marijuana under the voluntary program, list it in the policy's substances and state the cutoff where the federal guidelines do not set one.

Which federal rules still apply in Alaska?

• Mandatory programs keep the state benefits. Under AS 23.10.670, an employer obligated by state or federal requirements to test receives the statute's full benefits even if the required program differs, as long as it follows those requirements.
• DOT-regulated roles follow 49 CFR Part 40; a commercial driver needs a verified negative pre-employment result before the first safety-sensitive function (49 CFR 382.301).
• Rescheduling. The April 28, 2026 order moved FDA-approved and state-medical-license marijuana to Schedule III, but DOT's Part 40 guidance (May 15, 2026) says a state-licensed marijuana product still cannot make a DOT positive negative.
• Federal contractors need the policy statement and awareness program in the FAR Drug-Free Workplace clause, which does not itself require testing.
• The ADA: see pre-employment medical exams under the ADA before asking an applicant about medications.

What should staffing agencies placing workers in Alaska do?

1. Decide whose program it is. The statute's protection belongs to the employer that adopted the policy and ran the test. If the agency is the employer and orders the test, the agency needs its own compliant written policy; relying on a client's policy may leave the agency outside AS 23.10.600.
2. Tell candidates at registration. Section 23.10.620(a) requires informing prospective employees that they must undergo testing. Put it in the job ad or registration packet for assignments that require a test.
3. Do not pass the cost on. The employer pays the entire actual cost, so a fee deducted from a candidate breaks the statute.
4. Route positives through the physician review. No placement decision on an unconfirmed on-site screen; wait for the GC/MS confirmation and physician review.
5. Keep the agency license current. Alaska still requires an employment agency permit; see Alaska staffing agency licensing.

For the rest of Alaska's hiring rules, see the Alaska hiring checklist, Alaska E-Verify requirements and, if you record screening calls, Alaska's recording consent law.

Checklist: before you drug test an applicant in Alaska

1. Decide whether to use the voluntary program; if so, write a policy with all ten AS 23.10.620(b) items.
2. Give employees at least 30 days' notice before the first test and make the policy available.
3. Tell prospective employees, in the ad or application, that they must undergo drug testing.
4. Use a SAMHSA- or CAP-approved lab, or a certified on-site administrator with FDA-approved tests.
5. Pay for the test, confirm positives by GC/MS and have a physician review them before acting.
6. Keep results confidential and limit access to the people the statute names.
7. Start from the drug testing policy template, and compare other states in drug testing laws in hiring.