Drug Testing Laws in Montana

State law (Montana): The Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act works by defining a QUALIFIED TESTING PROGRAM and setting out what one must contain Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Testing must be conducted according to written policies and procedures adopted by the employer, and those must be AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW BY ALL EMPLOYEES 60 DAYS BEFORE the terms are implemented — or changed Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. That is the longest advance-notice period on this hub, twice Alaska's thirty days, and it applies to changes as well as to starting up.

State law (Montana): Procedure is tied to the federal rulebook whether or not you are a federally regulated worker. Samples covered by 49 CFR part 40 must conform to it; for samples that are not, the programme must contain chain-of-custody and other procedural requirements AT LEAST AS STRINGENT as part 40, and the testing methodology must be cleared by the FDA Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Urine collection, transport and confirmation must follow part 40 outright; for non-urine samples the requirements must be as stringent as part 40 in requiring SPLIT SPECIMENS, transport under chain of custody, and CONFIRMATION OF ALL SCREENED POSITIVES BY MASS SPECTROMETRY Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

State law (Montana): Before an employer may take ANY action based on a positive result, the result must be reviewed and certified by a medical review officer — a licensed physician trained in substance abuse Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. You must be given the opportunity to notify that physician of any medical information relevant to interpreting the result, including currently or recently used prescription OR NONPRESCRIPTION drugs Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

State law (Montana): A definition does quiet but heavy lifting. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE means a dangerous drug as defined in 49 CFR part 40, EXCEPT A DRUG USED PURSUANT TO A VALID PRESCRIPTION OR AS AUTHORIZED BY LAW Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. A medication you are lawfully prescribed and taking is not a controlled substance under this Act at all — the question is not whether an exception applies to you, it is whether the Act's subject matter is even engaged.

State law (Montana): Cost and time both fall on the employer, in unusually generous terms: testing must be at the employer's expense, and all employees must be COMPENSATED AT THEIR REGULAR RATE, INCLUDING BENEFITS, for time attributable to the testing programme Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Compare Alaska, which makes testing work time; Montana adds benefits, and applies it to time attributable to the programme rather than to the test alone.

State law (Montana): The written policy must contain a list of ten specified items, and two of them are worth naming because employers often omit them: a list of the controlled substances the employer intends to test for AND a stated alcohol concentration above which a tested employee must be sanctioned; and a detailed description of the testing procedures INCLUDING THE RESOLUTION OF A DISPUTE about results Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. A policy with no dispute procedure is not a compliant policy.

State law (Montana): And a provision we have not seen elsewhere on this hub: the policy must state that information obtained through testing that is UNRELATED to controlled substance or alcohol use must be held in strict confidentiality by the medical review officer and MAY NOT BE RELEASED TO THE EMPLOYER Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Your sample can reveal a great deal about you. Montana says the incidental findings stop at the doctor.

State law (Montana): SAMPLE means a urine specimen, a breath test, or oral fluid obtained in a minimally invasive manner Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Hair is not on that list.

State law (Montana): On alcohol, Montana sets a number: a breath alcohol result must indicate a concentration of GREATER THAN 0.04 for a person to be considered as having alcohol in their body Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Breath tests must be given by a certified breath alcohol technician using only equipment on the conforming products list published in the Federal Register Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

What the Act permits on a positive result: sanctions under the employer's standards of conduct, and a requirement to take part in counselling, treatment or rehabilitation as a condition of continued employment, with periodic follow-up testing as a condition of that programme Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

State law (Montana): On applicants the Act is short and permissive: an employer may test ANY PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEE as a condition of hire Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Note the word ANY — the narrow definition of employee that limits testing of existing staff does not appear here. A prospective employee is simply an individual who has made a written or oral application Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

State law (Montana): But the procedural protections still attach, and they are the ones that matter. The employer's written policy must describe its hiring policy with respect to prospective employees who test positive Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. And before the employer may take ANY action on a positive result, a medical review officer must review and certify it — with the applicant given the opportunity to tell that physician about prescription and nonprescription drugs they are taking Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. An offer withdrawn on an unreviewed screen result is not what the Act contemplates.

State law (Montana): Remember the definition too. A drug used pursuant to a valid prescription is not a controlled substance under this Act Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. If your positive is a lawfully prescribed medication taken as prescribed, that is the point to make to the medical review officer, in writing, before anything is decided.

Worth knowing: the cost and compensation rule is written in terms of employees, so we will not claim it entitles an applicant to be paid for testing time Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Testing at the employer's expense, however, is stated without that limitation in the same sentence — a point for a lawyer rather than for this page to settle.

State law (Montana): Random testing is permitted, but only through one of two prescribed routes, and the second route is the most detailed random-testing specification on this hub Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

State law (Montana): Route one: the employer establishes a DATE when ALL salaried and wage-earning employees will be required to undergo testing Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. That is not really random — it is a universal test on a known day, and it is legitimate under the Act.

State law (Montana): Route two: a random testing process, run by the employer or a third party, which MUST include all five of — an established calendar period for testing; an established testing rate within that period; a random selection process determining who is tested on any given date; ALL SUPERVISORY AND MANAGERIAL EMPLOYEES in the selection and testing process; and a procedure under which the employer obtains a SIGNED STATEMENT from each employee confirming they received a written description of the random selection process, kept in their personnel file Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Selection must be by a scientifically valid method such as a random number table or a computer-based random number generator Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

Practical: that signed statement is the most useful thing in the section. If you were selected for a random test and never received a written description of how the selection works, and never signed anything acknowledging it, the programme is missing a mandatory element — and the acknowledgement is supposed to be sitting in your own personnel file.

Montana is also a third state that reaches the people running the programme: all supervisory and managerial employees must be inside the random pool Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Arizona requires officers, directors and supervisors to be uniformly included in the testing policy, and Utah requires management to submit to periodic testing. Montana does it through the random selection process itself.

State law (Montana) — the other grounds: reasonable suspicion testing is available where the employer has reason to suspect an employee's faculties are impaired ON THE JOB as a result of use — and the employer SHALL COMPLY WITH THE FEDERAL DOT SUPERVISORY TRAINING REQUIREMENT at 49 CFR 382.603 whenever it tests on that basis Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Montana imports a federal training standard into every reasonable-suspicion test by a covered employer, which no other state on this hub does.

State law (Montana): Accident testing has two conditions, and both must be met: the employer must have reason to believe the employee's act or failure to act was a DIRECT OR PROXIMATE CAUSE of the accident, AND the accident must have caused death or personal injury, or property damage IN EXCESS OF $1,500 Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. A fender-bender with no injury does not open the door.

State law (Montana): Follow-up testing after a verified positive must be described in the policy and may run for UP TO ONE YEAR from the time the employer first requires a follow-up test Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

Start with the good news: Montana is one of very few states whose off-duty conduct statute names cannabis outright. LAWFUL PRODUCT means a product that is legally consumed, used or enjoyed and INCLUDES FOOD, BEVERAGES, TOBACCO, AND MARIJUANA Source 2State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 39-2-313 — discrimination prohibited for use of lawful product during nonworking hours; exceptions — checked 24 Aug 2026. An employer may not refuse to employ and may not discriminate against an individual as to compensation, promotion, or the terms, conditions or privileges of employment because the individual LEGALLY USES a lawful product OFF THE EMPLOYER'S PREMISES DURING NONWORKING HOURS Source 2State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 39-2-313 — discrimination prohibited for use of lawful product during nonworking hours; exceptions — checked 24 Aug 2026.

Now the exceptions, because they are what decide most real cases. The protection does not apply where the use AFFECTS IN ANY MANNER the individual's ability to perform job-related responsibilities or the safety of other employees, or conflicts with a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably related to the employment Source 2State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 39-2-313 — discrimination prohibited for use of lawful product during nonworking hours; exceptions — checked 24 Aug 2026. IN ANY MANNER is about as low a threshold as statutory drafting offers.

And the provision that does the most work: an employer DOES NOT VIOLATE the section if it takes action based on the belief that its actions are permissible under an ESTABLISHED SUBSTANCE ABUSE OR ALCOHOL PROGRAM OR POLICY, professional contract, or collective bargaining agreement Source 2State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 39-2-313 — discrimination prohibited for use of lawful product during nonworking hours; exceptions — checked 24 Aug 2026. Read that carefully. It is a safe harbour keyed to the employer's BELIEF, and an established written drug policy is exactly the thing that supports the belief. So the practical position is close to the opposite of what subsection (1) suggests: where your employer has an established drug programme or policy, the marijuana inclusion gives you much less than it appears to.

The marijuana act pushes in the same direction. Nothing in it requires an employer to permit or accommodate marijuana use in any workplace or on the employer's property; nothing prohibits an employer from disciplining an employee FOR VIOLATION OF A WORKPLACE DRUG POLICY OR FOR WORKING WHILE INTOXICATED by marijuana; and nothing prevents declining to hire, discharging or disciplining someone because of THE INDIVIDUAL'S VIOLATION OF A WORKPLACE DRUG POLICY OR INTOXICATION BY MARIJUANA WHILE WORKING Source 3State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 16-12-108 — Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, limitations; employer provisions — checked 24 Aug 2026. It also forecloses, by name, a wrongful discharge action and a discrimination action under two specified statutes Source 3State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 16-12-108 — Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, limitations; employer provisions — checked 24 Aug 2026.

But notice what those two limbs are tied to: violation of a workplace drug policy, or intoxication by marijuana WHILE WORKING Source 3State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 16-12-108 — Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, limitations; employer provisions — checked 24 Aug 2026. They are not written as permission to act on a positive test as such. Whether a positive urine test standing alone establishes either limb is a question this text does not answer, and we do not assert an answer. If your employer has no workplace drug policy, that question becomes a live one rather than an academic one.

The other place this bites: the Act's strongest protection — no adverse action where you give a reasonable explanation or medical opinion — opens with the words EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN the marijuana act's limitations section Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. That carve-out was added in 2021. For marijuana specifically, the explanation route is qualified in a way it is not for anything else.

State law (Montana): Montana's marijuana act contains a provision aimed squarely at medical use, and it runs against the patient. Nothing in the chapter may be construed to prohibit an employer FROM INCLUDING IN ANY CONTRACT A PROVISION PROHIBITING THE USE OF MARIJUANA FOR A DEBILITATING MEDICAL CONDITION Source 3State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 16-12-108 — Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, limitations; employer provisions — checked 24 Aug 2026.

That is unusually direct. Most states either say nothing about medical cannabis in employment or create a limited accommodation duty. Montana expressly preserves the employer's ability to write a prohibition on medical marijuana use INTO THE CONTRACT ITSELF — not merely into a policy it could change, but into the bargain.

Where a registered cardholder does appear favourably: a hospice or residential care facility licensed under the state's health facility law may adopt a policy allowing use of marijuana by a registered cardholder Source 3State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 16-12-108 — Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, limitations; employer provisions — checked 24 Aug 2026. That is about residents and facilities, not about employees.

An important distinction to hold on to: the testing Act's definition of controlled substance excludes a drug used pursuant to a VALID PRESCRIPTION or as authorized by law Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Medical marijuana in Montana is not dispensed on a prescription in the ordinary sense — it operates through registered cardholder status. Whether cardholder use falls within 'as authorized by law' in that definition is a genuinely open question on the text, and it is one of the most consequential unanswered questions on this page. We are not going to guess at it. Ask a Montana employment lawyer.

State law (Montana): Montana does not use the phrase safety-sensitive. It does something more interesting: it builds the limit into the word EMPLOYEE. Under the Act, an employee is an individual engaged in the performance, supervision or management of work in a HAZARDOUS WORK ENVIRONMENT, a SECURITY POSITION, or a position AFFECTING PUBLIC SAFETY OR PUBLIC HEALTH, or in which DRIVING A MOTOR VEHICLE IS NECESSARY FOR ANY PART of the individual's work duties, or INVOLVING A FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY for an employer Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Independent contractors and elected members of a local government governing body are excluded Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

State law (Montana): And hazardous work environment is itself defined, by example rather than exhaustively: positions for which federal law mandates testing — aviation, commercial motor carrier, railroad, pipeline and commercial marine; positions involving operation of or work in proximity to construction equipment, industrial machinery or mining activities; and positions involving handling of or proximity to flammable materials, explosives, toxic chemicals or similar substances Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

Two of those categories are much wider than they look. Driving a motor vehicle NECESSARY FOR ANY PART of your duties catches a great many jobs that nobody would call safety-sensitive. And FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY reaches into finance and administration, which no other state on this hub brings inside a testing statute at all. Montana's category is not narrower than safety-sensitive — it is differently shaped.

Being careful about what this means: the Act defines its own scope; the text we read does NOT contain an express prohibition on testing a worker who falls outside that definition. So we will not tell you that testing an office worker with no driving duties and no fiduciary role is unlawful in Montana. What we can say is that such testing would not be happening inside the statutory framework the Act creates — and that the framework is where the employer's procedural obligations, and your rights, live. What follows from that is a question for a lawyer.

For comparison: Washington ties safety-sensitive to a substantial risk of death, South Dakota extends it to serious property damage, Nevada leaves it to the employer's determination, Connecticut has the Labor Commissioner designate positions by regulation, and Alaska declines to define the category at all. Montana is the only one that draws the line by listing kinds of work — including one, fiduciary responsibility, that has nothing to do with physical risk.

State law (Montana) — sixty days, and it covers changes: the written policies and procedures must be available for review by all employees 60 DAYS BEFORE the terms are implemented OR CHANGED Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Most notice provisions on this hub only bite when a programme starts. Montana's runs again every time the rules move.

State law (Montana) — you get the report without asking: the employer SHALL PROVIDE an employee who has been tested with a copy of the test report Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. There is no request requirement, no written-request requirement and no deadline to miss — compare Arizona and Alaska, where the right exists only on request, and Alaska where the request must be in writing within six months.

State law (Montana) — the split sample, and who pays: at your request the employer is REQUIRED to obtain an additional test of the split sample BY AN INDEPENDENT LABORATORY SELECTED BY YOU Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. The employer pays if the retest is negative; you pay if it is positive Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. You choose the laboratory — that is rare, and it is the part to insist on.

State law (Montana) — the provision to know by heart: no adverse action, INCLUDING FOLLOW-UP TESTING, may be taken if you present a REASONABLE EXPLANATION OR MEDICAL OPINION indicating that the original test results were not caused by illegal use of controlled substances or by alcohol consumption — and if you do, THE TEST RESULTS MUST BE REMOVED FROM YOUR RECORD AND DESTROYED Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. No other state on this hub requires the record to be destroyed.

The qualification you must not overlook: that section opens with the words EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN the marijuana act's limitations section Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. For marijuana, the explanation route is subject to the employer carve-outs described in the cannabis section of this page.

State law (Montana) — confidentiality with teeth: all information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda and test results an employer receives through a qualified testing programme are confidential communications and MAY NOT BE USED OR RECEIVED IN EVIDENCE, OBTAINED IN DISCOVERY, OR DISCLOSED IN ANY PUBLIC OR PRIVATE PROCEEDING Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. The exceptions are narrow: information required by law to be reported to a state or federal licensing authority; legal action arising out of the employer's implementation of the Act; and inquiries into a workplace accident involving death, physical injury or property damage over $1,500 where there is reason to believe the tested employee caused or contributed to it Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

Practical, and this is the sequence that matters: tell the medical review officer about your prescriptions and over-the-counter medications before certification. Ask for your copy of the test report — you are entitled to it without asking, so if it has not arrived, that is already a departure. If you want the split sample retested, say so and name your own laboratory. And put your explanation in writing, because a reasonable explanation is what triggers both the bar on adverse action and the destruction of the record.

Federal (DOT): a DOT-regulated test runs on the federal rulebook — federal panel, cutoffs, collection, medical review officer and consequences. Nothing on this page changes a DOT test.

Montana is unusual in how much federal law it borrows on purpose. Its own definition of a controlled substance is a dangerous drug AS DEFINED IN 49 CFR PART 40 Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Urine collection, transport and confirmation must be performed in accordance with part 40 whether or not you are federally regulated, and non-urine procedures must be AT LEAST AS STRINGENT Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Reasonable suspicion testing requires compliance with the DOT supervisory training rule at 49 CFR 382.603 Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Breath testing equipment must be on the conforming products list published in the Federal Register Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. Positions for which federal law mandates testing are named as examples of a hazardous work environment Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026.

What that means in practice: a non-DOT Montana worker inside a qualified testing programme gets much of the federal procedural apparatus — split specimens, chain of custody, mass spectrometry confirmation, medical review officer certification — as a matter of STATE law. Montana is the clearest example on this hub of a state importing the federal standard wholesale rather than writing its own.

On instant and on-site tests: the Act does not address on-site or point-of-collection testing as a category, unlike Alaska, Hawaii and Oregon. What it does say applies regardless of where the screen happens: ALL SCREENED POSITIVE RESULTS must be confirmed using mass spectrometry, and no action may be taken until a medical review officer has reviewed and certified the result Source 1State legislatureMontana Workforce Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-205 to 39-2-211 — checked 24 Aug 2026. An unconfirmed screen positive is not something an employer may act on in Montana.

Gaps we are naming: the statutory text on this page was read word for word from the official Montana Code Annotated, so the wording is solid. What we have NOT done is research Montana case law, any administrative rules under the Act, or — and this one matters — Montana's constitutional right of individual privacy, which is unusually strong and which no other state on this hub has in comparable form. We assert nothing about how it bears on private employer testing. We also did not read the two statutes the marijuana act forecloses actions under, so we do not characterise what those would otherwise have offered Source 3State legislatureMont. Code Ann. § 16-12-108 — Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, limitations; employer provisions — checked 24 Aug 2026.