Update on Drug Testing

Jun 06, 2018

More Workers Test Positive for Drug Use

The number of American workers testing positive for drug use is at its highest rate in more than a decade. Every year Quest Diagnostics publishes a report of drug use trends. This year’s report found that the national positivity rate held steady from 2016 to 2017 at 4.2% of the workforce. Cocaine positivity rates increased for the 5th consecutive year, with five states – Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada and Wisconsin – all seeing double-digit increases.

Positive tests for marijuana continue to grow, as they have for the last 5 years. Not surprisingly, California, Massachusetts and Nevada, all states that recently legalized recreational marijuana use, have seen the largest increases. Methamphetamine use skyrocketed in the Midwest and South, while prescription opiates and heroin rates continued to fall.

States Work to Ban Synthetic Urine

Remember that story about the genius who got caught trying to cheat on a drug test by warming up fake urine in a 7-Eleven microwave? Now, states are trying to ban the substance. At least 18 states have pending legislation outlawing the use and the sale of fake urine. Mississippi just tried to pass a bill named the “Urine Trouble Act.” It passed the state house but failed in the senate. Supporters say they will try again, especially after learning that the places that sell the fake urine, like truck stops, have such a demand they can’t keep the stuff in stock.

New CCFs for DOT-Regulated Employers

If you are in a DOT-regulated industry, you have just few more weeks to move to the newly revised Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form (CFF). The law bringing DOT requirements into line with those of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) went into effect on January 1st. At that time, employers were required to add four additional Schedule II substances and remove an initial analyst for MDEA. The test is still referred to as a 5 panel, but opiates are now called opioids in order to include the growing problem of the semi-synthetic drugs. While the law changed at the beginning of the year, the new, updated forms are not required until July 1st. That’s right around the corner, so if this applies to you, you need to make sure you are ready to make the transition.

NOW Someone’s Testing!

Even though medical marijuana is now legal in 29 states, there is very little research on how the drug affects users. Even though the horse is out of the barn in more than half the country, the University of Utah is launching a study to see how the compounds in marijuana affect the human brain. Over the next two years, researchers will use brain-imaging technology to track what happens when the drug is used. They will also try to figure out why it affects people differently. The study will follow 40 adults and will combine the efforts of several departments including neuro-imaging, biostatistics and physics.

Drug Testing Mess

A Colorado woman was cited by police after what seems to be a fake urine specimen blew up in a 7-Eleven microwave! Apparently, 26-year-old Angelique Sanchez was applying for a new job and was supposed to take a drug test at a nearby lab. Police say the clerk heard a loud bang from the microwave and saw Sanchez take out a plastic bottle and push yellow liquid onto the floor. When confronted, she didn’t understand the problem because she claimed it was not real urine. According to media reports, the lab did not allow Sanchez to take the drug test that day and she is on the hook for $500 to replace the microwave.