Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40MARCH 2017 • FOGHORN 27 LEGISLATIVEREPORT state law enforcement authorities of such possession? Is a vessel operator who does not report such posses- sion subject to potential discipline or penalty from the Coast Guard? May a company owning a passenger vessel establish a company-specific policy ad- dressing what should be done in the event of a passenger’s possession of marijuana? As Mr. Seham emphasized in his presentation to the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2017 in Seattle, possession of and use of marijuana for any purpose remains illegal under federal law, even in those jurisdictions that have decriminalized it for purposes of state or local statutes. State and local does not provide a legal defense to a violation of federal law, including the Controlled Substances Act. It is important to remember that a vessel crew member who tests positive for marijuana cannot serve on board a U.S. passenger vessel, even in a state which allows marijuana use for medical or recreational purposes. The Coast Guard continues to enforce and PVA members must continue to comply with federal rules regarding pre-employment, random, post-ac- cident, and for-cause drug testing of crew members. Incidentally, the Coast Guard recently announced that the minimum random drug testing rate of covered crew members will continue to be 25 percent for the year 2017. Several years ago, the rate was 50 percent, but better testing results for maritime workers enabled PVA to successfully advocate to the Coast Guard to use its discretionary authority to drop it to 25 percent, resulting in direct cost savings to member vessel operators. To summarize Captain Neubauer’s letter: • A vessel operator who learns that a passenger possesses small amounts of marijuana has no legal obligation to report that knowledge to the Coast Guard or anyone else; • There is no basis for the Coast guard to suspend or revoke the cre- dential of a mariner for failing to report an instance of passenger marijuana possession; • Personal use or possession of marijuana by a crew member remains a violation of federal law and exposes the individual to potential suspension or revocation of a Coast Guard-issued credential; and • The Coast Guard retains the ability to take law enforcement action under federal law against any individual who possesses marijuana on a vessel, even if the vessel is operating in a state that has legalized or decriminalized marijuana. Even in a state with fewer or no restrictions on personal use marijuana, a vessel operator is free to impose its own policy of banning possession on its vessel. This can be done by posting notice to the effect that “possession of federally- controlled substances, including marijuana, is strictly prohibited.” This policy can be buttressed by a strict “no smoking” policy on the vessel. n