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Aviation places significant demands on pilot judgment, decision-making and situational awareness. Pilots need to be able to process large amounts of information, respond quickly to changing conditions, and manage dangerous situations effectively and logically. This is why substances like alcohol have strict rules for use. FAA regulations prohibit pilots from flying or acting as a crewmember within eight hours of consuming alcohol. While alcohol-related aviation regulations are well established, the same cannot be said for cannabis. A challenging safety question Cannabis laws are constantly shifting due to changes in how society as a whole views it, which creates new questions for aviation regulators. As these laws change and cannabis use becomes more common, aviation regulators are looking for better data on impairment, detection and operational risk. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced that it will host a series of expert meetings, sponsored by the DOT, in 2026 and 2027 focused on cannabis use and operational fitness for pilots and air traffic controllers. The goal of these discussions is to help the FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine better understand impairment, detectability, risk assessment and potential fitness-for-duty standards for cannabis use by pilots and air traffic control specialists (ATCS). Cannabis usage presents a complicated challenge to regulate for aviation because impairment duration and severity can vary significantly between users. The National Academies states that discussions will cover impairment duration, ongoing screening approaches, monitoring of cognitive performance and potential methods for determining fitness for duty. Why the FAA is paying attention Creating safety standards for drug usage not only depends on detecting when a pilot has used cannabis, but on understanding the operational risk. The discussions are intended to improve the FAA's understanding of how both recent and cumulative cannabis use may affect pilots and air traffic controllers, as well as how scientific findings can inform future policy. Once it has a strong evidence base, the FAA can build effective policies on it. The aviation industry's cannabis discussion has shifted from enforcement and detecting use to measuring impairment and operational risk. The main challenge is determining how to measure impairment and incorporate it into fitness-for-duty standards. Why it matters The National Academies stated that no public product will come from the discussions and no new FAA rule will be made based on these discussions alone. The FAA is investing time into understanding how scientific evidence may affect future aviation medical and operational policies. As aviation authorities continue to look for scientific answers to their fitness-for-duty questions, measurement and operational risk will start to take over future policy debates surrounding cannabis in aviation.