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Software engineers were not drug tested at Amazon 10 years ago, and as far as I'm aware they never were. In what part of the country are companies required to drug test programmers? I have never heard of this being legally required for programmers anywhere. Maybe if you're working on federal contracts?

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At Amazon sure, but what I got from OP's statement was not at Amazon. When I was in Dallas it was pretty routine to get drug tested and I worked for a variety of companies. It was only when I got into product and engineering firms that I stopped getting drug tested.

Maybe a coastal thing, since they don’t want to lose a really good percentage of their good developers.

It's a puritanical east-coast thing. Every job I worked required it.

West coast employers never cared.

I wonder how the stats actually hash out. I’m on the east coast and never seen a drug test except for my very first job which was a direct government contract.

I’m in finance now and doubt any of the senior partners could pass drug tests for cocaine much less something as banal as marijuana.

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