Arizona has a detailed statute spelling out how a private employer can build a drug testing program and receive legal protection for using it. That statute is Arizona Revised Statutes Title 23, Article 5 (A.R.S. 23-493 through 23-493.12), the Drug Testing of Employees article. It sits alongside two marijuana laws that change what a positive result can mean in practice: the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and the adult use law passed as Proposition 207. This guide covers what the statute requires, what it protects, how the marijuana laws intersect with it, and how it touches workers compensation and unemployment insurance.
None of this is legal advice. Employers building or updating a testing policy in Arizona should have counsel review it against current statute and any local ordinance before it goes into effect.
The core statute: A.R.S. 23-493 through 23-493.12
The article defines who counts as an employer and employee, sets out what a written testing policy must contain, and gives employers legal protections if they follow it. Compliance is described in the statute as voluntary, meaning an employer is not required to test. The protections only apply to an employer who has adopted a policy and testing program that follows the article. See A.R.S. 23-493.08 for the voluntary compliance language.
Written policy requirements
A.R.S. 23-493.04 requires that testing be carried out under a written policy that is either distributed to every employee subject to testing or made available the same way the employer shares other personnel practices, such as a handbook or a posted notice. The statute lists what the written policy must include:
- A statement of the employer's policy on drug and alcohol use.
- A description of who is subject to testing.
- The circumstances under which testing may be required.
- The substances that may be tested for.
- A description of the testing methods and collection procedures.
- The consequences of refusing to test.
- Any adverse personnel action that may follow a positive result.
- The employee's right to request the written test results.
- The employee's right to explain a positive result in a confidential setting.
- A statement of the employer's confidentiality policy for results.
The statute also requires that prospective employees be told they must undergo testing. Within a written policy that meets these terms, an employer may test for any job related purpose consistent with business necessity, which the statute describes as including investigation of possible individual impairment.
Disciplinary procedures
Under A.R.S. 23-493.05, an employer may act on a positive drug test, a positive alcohol impairment test, or a refusal to provide a sample. Allowed responses include requiring enrollment in a rehabilitation or counseling program, suspension with or without pay, refusal to hire a prospective employee, or termination.
Good faith protection and safety-sensitive positions
A.R.S. 23-493.06 is the liability shield at the center of the statute. It states that no cause of action may be established against an employer who has adopted a policy and testing program under the article for actions taken in good faith based on a positive test, for choosing not to test for a specific substance, for failing to detect a substance or condition, or for ending a testing program. It also protects an employer's good faith belief that an employee used or possessed drugs on the premises or during work hours, or that an employee was impaired at work.
The 2011 amendment to this section added specific protection for safety-sensitive positions. An employer may exclude an employee from a safety-sensitive position, including reassignment or paid or unpaid leave, based on a good faith belief that the employee is engaged in current use of any drug, legal, prescribed, or otherwise, if that drug could impair or lessen job performance. That belief may rest on test results, drug warning labels, employee statements, information from a physician or pharmacist, or other information reasonably believed reliable. Safety-sensitive position is defined broadly in A.R.S. 23-493 to include operating a vehicle or machinery, maintaining equipment where a malfunction could cause injury, working on a customer's premises, handling food or medicine, and any occupation regulated under Title 32.
Confidentiality of results
A.R.S. 23-493.09 makes test result communications confidential. They may not be used or disclosed in a public or private proceeding except in a proceeding under the article itself, or disclosed to the tested individual, to people the employer designates to receive and evaluate results, or to an arbitrator, mediator, court, or government agency as authorized by law. The tested employee has a right to access their own written results. Samples collected under the article may not be tested for anything other than unlawful drugs or alcohol as the statute defines them, unless otherwise permitted by law.
Testing program outline
Most Arizona employers combine a rapid screen at the point of collection with laboratory confirmation of any non-negative result, supporting the good faith standard the statute references throughout.
| Step | What it covers | Typical tool |
|---|---|---|
| Written policy | Substances tested, circumstances, consequences, confidentiality, employee rights per 23-493.04 | Employee handbook or posted policy |
| Point of collection screen | Initial screen at time of test, urine cup or oral fluid device | Multi-panel dip card, cup, or oral fluid test |
| Confirmation | Any non-negative screen sent for laboratory confirmation | GC-MS or LC-MS/MS at a certified lab |
| Medical review | Legitimate medical explanations, including a marijuana card or valid prescription, reviewed before action | Medical review officer process |
| Documentation | Chain of custody and confidential result storage per 23-493.09 | Custody and control form |
The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and employment
The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, approved by voters and codified starting at A.R.S. 36-2801, includes an employment nondiscrimination provision. Under A.R.S. 36-2813, unless doing so would cause the employer to lose a monetary or licensing related benefit under federal law, an employer may not discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment based on the person's status as a registered cardholder, or based on a registered qualifying patient's positive drug test for marijuana components or metabolites. That protection has a specific limit written into the statute: it does not apply if the patient used, possessed, or was impaired by marijuana on the employer's premises or during work hours.
In practice this means a positive marijuana screen alone is not, by itself, enough for an Arizona employer to take adverse action against a registered cardholder. Whether an employee was actually impaired at work or possessed marijuana on premises is a separate factual question the statute leaves open, and it generally interacts with the good faith standard in 23-493.06. Employers with cardholders in safety-sensitive roles should have counsel review the policy, since federal contract, Department of Transportation, and licensing requirements can change the analysis.
Proposition 207 and recreational marijuana
Arizona voters approved recreational marijuana in 2020 under the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, codified starting at A.R.S. 36-2850. The employer provisions sit at A.R.S. 36-2851, and they are narrower than some employers assume. The statute states plainly that the law does not restrict an employer's right to maintain a drug and alcohol free workplace, does not affect an employer's ability to have workplace policies restricting marijuana use by employees or applicants, and does not require an employer to accommodate the use, possession, or display of marijuana in the workplace. It also does not restrict the rights of employers to prohibit or regulate marijuana related conduct on their own property, and it does not authorize impaired driving.
Put simply, Proposition 207 legalized personal possession and use of marijuana for adults generally, but it left an employer's workplace policy authority intact. This differs from the medical marijuana law, which includes a specific nondiscrimination clause for registered cardholders. An employer with no cardholders to consider, facing only adult use marijuana under Proposition 207, generally may continue enforcing a zero tolerance policy, subject to the article 5 framework above.
How the marijuana laws and testing statute fit together
| Situation | What generally applies | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Registered medical marijuana cardholder, positive test, no on premises use or impairment shown | Nondiscrimination provision may limit adverse action based on status or test result alone | A.R.S. 36-2813 |
| Employee impaired by marijuana on premises or during work hours, cardholder or not | Employer generally retains authority to act, including under safety-sensitive protections | A.R.S. 36-2813; A.R.S. 23-493.06 |
| Adult use marijuana under Proposition 207, no medical card involved | Employer workplace policy authority is not restricted by the adult use law | A.R.S. 36-2851 |
| Any employee in a safety-sensitive position | Employer may exclude from the position based on good faith belief of current drug use that could impair performance | A.R.S. 23-493.06 |
Workers compensation and unemployment insurance
Arizona's workers compensation law entitles an injured employee to compensation for an injury arising out of and in the course of employment, as stated in A.R.S. 23-1021. The drug testing article does not rewrite this entitlement, and a positive post-accident test does not automatically bar a claim under 23-1021 itself. What the testing article adds is an evidentiary framework: results collected under a compliant program are confidential communications with limited exceptions under 23-493.09, and the good faith and causes of action provisions can come into play if a testing dispute becomes part of a broader claim. Employers handling a post-accident test alongside a workers compensation claim should route both through counsel, since the interaction is fact specific.
On the unemployment side, Arizona's disqualification statute, A.R.S. 23-775, disqualifies an individual from benefits for the week in which they were discharged for willful or negligent misconduct connected with the employment, among other grounds. A documented violation of a compliant written drug testing policy is the kind of record a state unemployment determination would weigh under this standard, though the outcome depends on the facts presented and the review process, which the state's employment security agency administers rather than the employer.
What an Arizona employer needs in place
- A written policy meeting every element listed in A.R.S. 23-493.04, distributed or made reasonably available to covered employees.
- A defined list of safety-sensitive positions if the employer intends to rely on the 23-493.06 safety-sensitive protection.
- A process for confidential handling of results consistent with 23-493.09, including who may receive and evaluate a result, and how an employee can request their own results or explain a positive one confidentially.
- A defined process for reviewing a registered medical marijuana cardholder's positive result against the 36-2813 standard before taking adverse action.
- Legal counsel review of the policy, particularly where federal contract, Department of Transportation, or state licensing rules under Title 32 also apply.
Frequently asked questions
Does Arizona require private employers to drug test?
No. The state statute describes compliance with the drug testing article as voluntary. Employers who choose to test and want the article's legal protections need a written policy that meets the requirements in A.R.S. 23-493.04.
Can an Arizona employer fire an employee for a positive marijuana test if the employee has a medical marijuana card?
Arizona's medical marijuana law generally limits adverse action based solely on a cardholder's status or a positive test for marijuana components, unless the employer would lose a federal monetary or licensing benefit, or unless the employee used, possessed, or was impaired by marijuana on the employer's premises or during work hours. Employers should consult counsel before acting on a cardholder's test result, since the on premises and impairment exceptions are fact specific.
Did Proposition 207 change what employers can do about marijuana at work?
The adult use law codified starting at A.R.S. 36-2850 states that it does not restrict an employer's right to maintain a drug and alcohol free workplace or to have policies restricting marijuana use by employees, and it does not require an employer to accommodate marijuana use, possession, or display at work.
What has to be in a written drug testing policy under A.R.S. 23-493.04?
The policy must state the employer's position on drug and alcohol use, who is subject to testing, when testing may occur, what substances are tested, the testing and collection methods, the consequences of refusal, possible adverse actions, the employee's right to request written results, the employee's right to a confidential explanation of a positive result, and the employer's confidentiality practices.
Can a positive drug test affect a workers compensation claim in Arizona?
The base entitlement to compensation for a work injury is set out in A.R.S. 23-1021 and is not rewritten by the drug testing article. How a positive post-accident test interacts with a specific claim is fact dependent, and employers should route these situations through counsel rather than assuming a test result alone resolves a claim.
Can a positive drug test affect unemployment benefits in Arizona?
Arizona's disqualification statute, A.R.S. 23-775, disqualifies a claimant discharged for willful or negligent misconduct connected with the employment. A documented policy violation can be evidence in that determination, but the outcome depends on the specific facts and the state's review process.
For a broader look at how testing rules differ across the country, see our overview of workplace drug testing laws by state, and for the marijuana specific angle, see marijuana legalization and workplace drug testing. American Screening Corporation supplies the drug test cups and confirmation services employers use to build a program consistent with the written policy requirements described above.
This article is general information about Arizona statutes as of the verification date and is not legal advice. Employers should consult qualified counsel before adopting or enforcing a drug testing policy.