No, your drug testing clinic does not send your DOT 5 Panel Drug test results directly to a Regional Exam Center or the National Maritime Center.
Your completed USCG drug test form (Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form or CG-719P) is returned to you by your clinic. Usually this is returned via email and will include your test result as well as the medical review officer's (MRO) signature.
It is the mariner's responsibility to send this form to the USCG as part of the application for USCG license or Merchant Mariner Credential. The clinic does not send it on your behalf. If you use MM-SEAS to submit a Stress-Free MMC application, MM-SEAS staff will double check your uploaded drug test form for errors or missing signatures before it is submitted.
If your result is positive:
Per 46 CFR 16.201(c), positive drug test results MUST be reported to your local Coast Guard Sector. The local sector will determine what actions need to be taken. A positive drug test can result in an assessment period that may result in the Coast Guard not issuing your renewal.
Going to get your Drug Test completed for your application? This guide will help make it easy!
We hope this made your life a little easier and if you have other questions the MM-SEAS team is always here to help!
MM-SEAS is free to use on your own and if you need some more personalized help you can upgrade to MM-SEAS Expert Access inside of the site.
No matter what, when you are ready to submit your application you can do it yourself, or you can hand the whole thing to us. An MM-SEAS Navita Navigator walks you through submitting in Navita, the Coast Guard's new submission portal, on a short video call. No computer, or not up for a video call? Our team gets your application submitted to the Coast Guard for you anyway. A Stress-Free MMC is $399. Two MM-SEAS licensing experts check every page, we pay your Coast Guard fees at submission and charge your card so you never touch pay.gov, and we stay on it with the National Maritime Center until your credential is issued.
MM-SEAS Expert Access is $99 a year. It is your personal guidance counselor for USCG licensing: what training you need next, which sea time counts, and how to reach the credential you want, by phone, email, chat or a 1 on 1 video call. Expert Access members also get $50 off a Stress-Free MMC.
Need to renew, upgrade or get your first USCG license? We're here to help.
About the author
Nate Gilman is President and Co-Founder of MM-SEAS. He hawsepiped from the deck to a 3rd Mate Unlimited license with full STCW compliance over more than 15 years at sea, and is a veteran of the NOAA Commissioned Corps. He works directly with the National Maritime Center, USCG-approved training schools, and vessel operators on credentialing policy, and writes on sea service documentation, evaluation standards, and how mariners move up the license ladder.
