New York City orders police force to stop testing officers for cannabis usage

New York City has instructed its police department to stop the practice of testing members of its force for marijuana use, according to a news report.

However, the NYPD says that it will only consider the order, after having initially indicating it would stop such testing, the New York Post reports. 

The outlet reports that the NYPD's deputy commissioner of legal matters put out a memo July 11 that reads, "starting immediately, the department should only drug test a member of service for marijuana if there is reasonable suspicion that the member is impaired by marijuana on the job."

The department followed up that memo with a letter to all commands saying that officers are "not permitted to use cannabis on or off duty."

In the past, an officer would be terminated automatically if they tested positive for marijuana use.

One officer told the Post that he believed the new rule was being implemented so that more candidates could be hired in order to make up for a wave of recent retirements. 

"This is all for people who can’t get into the academy because they test positive for marijuana," the officer said. "I guess you’re going to rehire all the people who doled out? (the police term for fired due to cannabis use.) This department is going downhill. What happens if the person shoots and kills somebody and they find out they were high on marijuana?"