Does Walmart Drug Test? Big US Employers and Their Weed Policies

Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States, and Amazon is second. Add Costco, Home Depot and Target, and you have the companies where millions of Americans look for retail and warehouse work, many of them in states where weed is legal.

Legal at home is not the same as safe at work. Each of these companies treats cannabis differently, and the state you apply in can change the answer.

Walmart and the post-injury test

So does Walmart drug test? Yes, after some workplace accidents and for some new hires. Court records show how it works. In January 2016, Walmart began requiring a drug or alcohol test whenever an employee suffered a workplace injury that needed treatment from an outside health care provider.

That rule cost an Arizona worker her job. A bag of ice fell on her wrist at work, she tested positive for marijuana metabolites, and Walmart fired her, citing only the test. She was a registered patient under Arizona's medical marijuana law, which protects cardholders. In 2019, a federal judge ruled for her on liability, because Walmart produced no evidence that she was impaired at work. Cardholders in other states have fared worse. In 2012, a federal appeals court ruled against a Michigan Walmart worker with a state medical marijuana card who was fired after a positive test, holding that Michigan's medical marijuana law does not regulate private employers.

New Jersey shows the hiring side. In January 2022, Erick Zanetich applied for an asset protection job at a Walmart facility in Swedesboro and got an offer on the condition that he pass a drug test. He tested positive for cannabis, and Walmart rescinded the offer. He sued under CREAMMA, the state's cannabis law, which bars employers from refusing to hire people for using cannabis. In December 2024, a federal appeals court held that CREAMMA does not imply a private remedy for job applicants who fail drug tests for cannabis, so he could not sue under it. In May 2026, a New Jersey state appeals court reached the opposite conclusion in another case, so the question is still open.

Amazon dropped the marijuana screen in 2021

Amazon changed course in June 2021. NPR reported at the time that Amazon will no longer test most job applicants for marijuana use, and the company kept marijuana screening only for positions regulated by the Department of Transportation, such as some driving jobs. The same report noted that a New York man had sued Amazon after it rescinded a job offer over a positive THC test, citing a New York City law that limits marijuana testing of job applicants.

Amazon also backed the MORE Act, a bill to end federal prohibition, and that fall it restored job eligibility for former employees and applicants who had been turned away over marijuana tests. That still leaves a question for anyone in a warehouse or a delivery van: does Amazon drug test for weed after you are hired? Its zero-tolerance policy for impairment at work stayed in place, and delivery workers who test positive after an accident or on reasonable suspicion still face consequences.

Costco, Home Depot and Target

The other three companies say less in public, so the answers come from a policy document, a leaked memo and a careers page.

Costco's written policy is the strictest of the three. A document posted on Costco's website says that all final applicants being considered for a position must pass a drug test before they receive an unconditional offer. It adds that marijuana use, even where state law permits it, will not count as a legitimate medical explanation for a positive result, and that applicants who test positive must wait a year before reapplying. Which applicants does Costco drug test? On paper, every final one, though the document carries no date, and newer state laws may limit how it applies in some states.

How much does Home Depot drug test now? Much less than it used to. An internal memo reported in August 2024 said that from September 1, marijuana would come off all of the company's U.S. drug panels, including tests after accidents and on reasonable suspicion, except for jobs covered by Department of Transportation rules. Pre-employment testing would continue only for some outside candidates in asset protection and corporate security. Home Depot did not confirm the memo when asked, but the Society for Human Resource Management later reported the policy as in effect.

So when does Target drug test? Its careers page says only that certain jobs may require a drug screen under its Drug Free Workplace Policy, completed within 24 hours of accepting the offer. It does not say which jobs, or whether marijuana is on the panel.

State laws that limit the test

Where you apply can matter as much as who you apply to. Several states now restrict how employers treat off-duty cannabis use:

• California. Employers may not penalize off-duty use or a test that finds nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites, and may not ask applicants about past use.
• Washington. Employers may not reject applicants for off-duty use or a metabolite test, except for safety-sensitive jobs named in advance.
• New York. Legal use outside work hours and off the premises is protected unless the employee shows specific signs of impairment while working.
• New Jersey. Employers may not refuse to hire someone for using cannabis, though they can still test and check for impairment.
• Nevada. Employers may not refuse to hire because a screening test found marijuana, with exceptions for firefighters, emergency medical technicians, drivers and safety jobs.
• Minnesota. Employers may not require applicants to take a cannabis test unless state or federal law requires it, with exceptions such as safety-sensitive, police and childcare jobs.

California's law shows the catch. It protects people from being penalized over an employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites, the leftovers that sit in urine long after the high is gone. Employers can still use scientifically valid tests that do not look for those metabolites, and construction trades and jobs that need a federal security clearance are exempt.

The unexamined day is a wasted opportunity. Reflect on what you did, what you learned, and how you can improve.

John Dewey

A grower's checklist before you apply

Growing your own changes nothing about the chemistry. Homegrown THC breaks down into the same metabolite that urine tests look for, and our guide to how long THC stays in your system puts the window at up to about 3 days after a single use and 30 days or more for heavy daily users.

Daytime strains are no loophole either. Durban Poison, a South African landrace sativa at 27% THC with pine and sweet notes, and Strawberry Lemonade, a Strawberry and Lemon OG cross at 26% THC, both promise focused, productive effects on their pages. Both leave the same metabolite behind. The strain changes the high, not the test result.

Before you apply anywhere, check three things:

• Read the posting. Many listings say whether a drug screen is part of the offer.
• Look up your state. The laws above protect off-duty use only in the states that passed them.
• Ask what the panel covers. Some employers have taken THC off their panels, and others still test for it.

Our breakdown of 5, 10 and 12 panel drug tests explains which ones look for THC.

Testing is not going away

Federal rules still keep marijuana on many tests. Transportation workers in safety-sensitive jobs fall under Department of Transportation testing, and the April 2026 order that moved state-licensed medical marijuana to Schedule III did not change that. NPR noted at the time that the order said nothing about easing federal drug testing rules. The department's guidance, updated in May 2026, says that even after rescheduling, state-dispensed marijuana does not constitute an FDA-approved drug, so a medical card cannot explain away a positive result.

Private employers are testing more, not less. In a July 2026 survey of more than 600 businesses by the employment law firm Fisher Phillips, 60% said they test job applicants for cannabis, up from 52% in 2024. Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest testing labs, found marijuana in 4.4% of urine tests in the general U.S. workforce in 2025, in 11.1% of saliva tests and in 15.1% of hair tests, which look furthest back in time. Retail trade had the highest marijuana positivity of any worker category, at 7.6%.

Read the policy before you sign

Walmart tests after injuries and for some new hires, and courts have reached different answers, state by state, on what cannabis users can do about it. Amazon dropped marijuana from most of its screening in 2021, Costco's written policy tests final applicants, Home Depot pulled marijuana from most of its panels in 2024, and Target screens certain jobs. State law can protect off-duty use, but transportation jobs and many private employers still test.

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