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

Louisiana regulates the quality of drug tests rather than whether employers may test. Under La. R.S. 49:1001 to 49:1021, when a test for marijuana, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines or PCP can lead to refusal to hire or another negative employment consequence, it must be run in a SAMHSA- or CAP-certified laboratory under the federal SAMHSA guidelines, with an initial marijuana cutoff of 50 to 100 ng/mL, and the results are confidential. Employers in federally mandated programs and oil and gas exploration, drilling and production are outside the chapter. Louisiana's medical marijuana protection for positive tests covers state employers only, as of October 2026.

Does Louisiana have a drug testing law for employers?

Yes. Chapter 14 of Title 49, "Drug Testing," has applied since January 1, 1991. It does not require any private employer to test. It sets standards for tests that can cost someone a job, and it applies broadly: an "employer" is any person, firm or corporation, including a governmental entity, with one or more workers (R.S. 49:1001(4)), and a "prospective employee" is anyone who has applied, in writing or orally (R.S. 49:1001(7)). "Negative employment consequences" expressly include refusal to hire (R.S. 49:1001(6)).

Who is outside the chapter?

• Any person, firm or corporation "subject to a federally mandated drug testing program" is not an employer for the chapter (R.S. 49:1001(4)).
• Companies in "the exploration, drilling, or production of oil or gas in Louisiana or its territorial waters" (R.S. 49:1002(H)). Construction, maintenance and manufacturing companies at refineries and chemical plants may lower or change the 50 ng/mL marijuana cutoff.
• Gas and electric companies regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, treatment centers, and physicians testing their own patients (R.S. 49:1002(C)).
• An on-site screen that carries no negative employment consequences (R.S. 49:1002(I)).
• Testing for drugs other than the five classes in R.S. 49:1002(A) is not regulated by the chapter (R.S. 49:1002(B)).

What are Louisiana's rules for pre-employment drug tests?

1. Certified laboratory. Under R.S. 49:1005(A), all drug testing of Louisiana residents and of samples collected in the state must be performed in a SAMHSA-certified, CAP-FUDT-certified or CAP-FDT-certified laboratory when testing covers marijuana, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines or PCP and "mandatory or discretionary negative employment consequences will be rendered."
2. SAMHSA guidelines and cutoffs. Testing follows the federal Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs, except that the initial marijuana cutoff is "no less than fifty nanograms/ML and no more than one hundred nanograms/ML as specified by the employer or the testing entity" (R.S. 49:1005(B)). The Louisiana Department of Health adopts the guidelines for the state.
3. Sample types. A sample may be urine, blood, saliva or hair (R.S. 49:1001(11)). An FDA-cleared method is allowed if the sample is processed in a SAMHSA, CAP-FUDT or CAP-FDT certified laboratory with screening and confirmation testing; positive samples are preserved "and available for challenge testing at the request of the donor," and no sample may be used to collect or analyze DNA (R.S. 49:1002(J)).
4. Medical review officer. The chapter defines the MRO as a licensed physician who receives the laboratory's results and interprets a positive with the person's medical history (R.S. 49:1001(5)), and refers to results "certified positive by the medical review officer" (R.S. 49:1011(B)).
5. Records access. A person whose test is confirmed positive may, on written request, see the records of the test within seven working days (R.S. 49:1011(A)).
6. Confidentiality. Everything the employer receives through its testing program is a confidential communication, usable only in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding or in civil litigation where the person's drug use is relevant (R.S. 49:1012(A)).

An employer that follows the chapter also gets a shield: no defamation, libel, slander or privacy claim arises from its testing program unless results were disclosed beyond the employer, the testing entity, their agents and the tested person, were based on a false result or a failure to follow the chapter, and the elements of the claim are met (R.S. 49:1012(B)). The statute does not itself set notice, timing or cost rules for private employers, so put those in your written policy.

Public employers

R.S. 49:1015 lets a public employer require samples from prospective employees as a condition of hiring, under a duly promulgated written policy, and requires testing of applicants whose main job is operating, maintaining or supervising the operation of public vehicles. Staffing firms supplying state or local agencies should ask for the agency's written policy.

What does Louisiana say about medical marijuana and hiring?

• Therapeutic use program. Under R.S. 40:1046, an authorized clinician may recommend marijuana for therapeutic use, with the program regulated by the Louisiana Department of Health.
• State employers only. Act 651 of 2022 (House Bill 988, effective August 1, 2022) enacted R.S. 49:1016: no state employer may take negative employment action against an employee or prospective employee "based solely on a positive drug test for marijuana" if the person has been clinically diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition and a licensed physician recommended marijuana under R.S. 40:1046.
• Its exceptions. The protection does not stop action against someone who uses or is impaired by marijuana on the premises or during work hours, or against employees whose principal job is to operate or maintain state vehicles or supervise employees who do, and it does not apply to emergency medical services, law enforcement, public safety officials, state horse racing commission employees or firefighter services.
• Private employers. Section 49:1016 is written for state employers. We found no Louisiana statute that bars a private employer from refusing to hire a medical marijuana patient after a confirmed THC positive; a private employer's own policy decides.

Which federal rules still apply in Louisiana?

• DOT-regulated roles follow 49 CFR Part 40, and employers subject to a federally mandated program fall outside Louisiana's chapter entirely. 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 physician's recommendation for state-licensed marijuana still cannot make a DOT positive negative.
• Federal contractors need the policy statement and awareness program in the FAR Drug-Free Workplace clause.
• The ADA: see pre-employment medical exams under the ADA.

What should staffing agencies placing workers in Louisiana do?

1. Use a certified lab whenever a result can block a placement. Refusing to place someone is a negative employment consequence, so an instant screen that decides placements must be followed by testing in a certified laboratory.
2. Know your clients' industries. Oil and gas exploration, drilling and production clients are outside the chapter, and refinery and chemical-plant contractors may set a different marijuana cutoff. Note on the job order which rule applies.
3. Keep results with the MRO and HR. Section 49:1012 makes results confidential; share a pass or fail with the client, not the panel results.
4. Check your license status. Louisiana licenses fee-charging private employment services but excludes temporary staffing firms; see Louisiana staffing agency licensing.

For registration, withholding and the rest of onboarding, see the Louisiana hiring checklist, E-Verify in Louisiana and, if you record screening calls, Louisiana's recording consent law.

Louisiana drug testing laws at a glance

Checklist: before you drug test an applicant in Louisiana

1. Check whether you are outside the chapter: federally mandated program, oil and gas production, or a regulated utility.
2. Choose a SAMHSA- or CAP-certified laboratory and set your marijuana cutoff between 50 and 100 ng/mL.
3. Never refuse to hire on an uncertified screen; confirm and have an MRO review the result.
4. Keep results confidential and answer records requests within seven working days.
5. For state agency roles, apply R.S. 49:1016 to applicants with a physician's marijuana recommendation.
6. Write it down with the drug testing policy template, and compare other states in drug testing laws in hiring.