Should Your Company Drug Test?

Drug abuse is a massive problem in the Western world, especially in countries like the United States. This means that many private employers are investigating whether they should introduce mandatory drug testing and screening for existing workers and applicants.

Drug testing in the workplace is nothing new. It’s been something that federal agencies, including the Department of Transport, have implemented for some time. But private companies are also beginning to realize that there are distinct benefits to testing, many of which can help them to save money in the long term.

Why Drug Test?
In most cases, whether or not to test for drugs is a decision that is often left to employers. In some safety-sensitive industries, like transport and logistics, as well as federal agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration, drug testing is mandatory. But other than that, employers generally have free rein as to whether they want to implement a screening policy or not. Even though drug testing isn’t a requirement, many employers ultimately decide that they do want some kind of screening procedure in place. The biggest reason for this is to avoid legal liability. In some cases, an employer might be held legally liable if an employee under the influence of drugs causes injury to themselves or others at work. Drug and alcohol use at work may also violate health and safety laws, as outlined by the OHSA, meaning that businesses could face a federal lawsuit.

The second reason, and perhaps the most important from a financial perspective, is the effect that drugs have on productivity. According to federal government estimates, alcohol and drug use cost private businesses more than $80 billion in lost revenue every year. The reasons for this are what you might expect: those who consume drugs and alcohol are more likely to turn up late, more liable to make mistakes on the job and are over three times more likely to be involved in an accident.

A final financial incentive for employers is that they can get discounts on workers’ compensation insurance if they carry out regular drug screening. Proving to insurers that your workplace is drug-free involves a procedure that includes drug testing.

Potential Issues
Although drug testing comes with a host of legal and economic benefits, there are also potential risks. Drug tests, for instance, have recently come under scrutiny from the courts and, in some cases, workers’ rights to privacy have been recognized. Companies are not allowed to force potential applicants to undergo a drug test for a particular position, but if they refuse to take the test, then their application can be rejected, so long as the business is fair and consistent. Testing current employees can be a little trickier, as they are viewed as having more rights that applicants. Drug testing campaigns within a company can lead to claims of discrimination if not handled in the right way, so businesses should never target a single group of employees (for instance, race or ethnicity) in testing procedures.

 

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How Accurate Are Panel Drug Tests

Drug use is a significant problem throughout the United States. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that more than 21.7 million people aged 12 or older required some form of substance abuse treatment in 2015, or around 7 percent of the entire US population. As a result of this, ever greater numbers of employers are looking for better ways to screen their workers to ensure that they are not currently misusing drugs.

One of the methods for doing this is panel drug tests. There is no set definition of a panel drug test, but it is generally taken to mean a set of tests that search for a range of drugs and illicit substances in the body. For instance, a four-panel drug test might include screening for opiates, cocaine, THC and PCP, but it could equally test for a different combination of drugs. Seven-panel drugs tests are frequently used by companies that are concerned that certain employees or workers are abusing drugs, including prescription drugs. These panel drug tests are most common in industries that require a high level of alertness, including those where employees are responsible for large pieces of heavy machinery.

False Positives

A common concern for people undergoing a panel drug test is that it will result in a false positive. In other words, the panel drug test will indicate that they have a substance in their body (be it amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine, etc.) even though they have not ingested any drugs. One of the ways around this is for the person undergoing testing to accurately report any prescription drugs or herbal remedies they might be taking. False positives can sometimes arise in panel drug testing as a result of cross-reactivity of certain chemical substances. Take poppy seeds, for instance. Poppy seeds are a common ingredient in baked goods and are perfectly safe and legal to consume. But because poppy seeds are the seeds of the opium plant, they can sometimes lead to false positives for opiates (like heroin). Other medications, like ephedrine-containing decongestants, have also been known to result in false positives thanks to their similarity to amphetamines.

It’s important to note, however, that high-quality labs are aware of these issues and take measures to avoid them. Usually, their assays are set up in such a way as to distinguish between legally prescribed medications and those which have been obtained illicitly, using various forms of confirmatory testing procedures.

It’s also worth pointing out that for many drugs, the chances of a false positive are very small indeed. For instance, if the metabolite of cocaine is detected, an individual cannot claim that it came from another source, like Novacaine.

False Negatives
What about the chances of false negative – that is, when a worker has taken drugs, but the panel drug test fails to detect that they have? False negatives can occasionally arise, but usually, they result from tampering with the sample and not from a problem with the assay methods. Furthermore, this tampering can often be detected, either because of low creatinine lab values or evidence of excessive water consumption before the test. If there is a chance that the sample has been tampered with to produce a false negative, labs have the means to detect this, and a resample can be requested.

 

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Mandatory Drug Test for all Welfare Recipients in 14 Sates & Canada

Doping in Sports: What is it and how DOES it affect our Sportsmen?

The problem of doping in sports has rocked the sports world again this year. With Russia being banned from participating in the Olympics, at least their on-field athletes, it is about time that a panacea to both the athletes and the anti-doping officials will agree. Doping is a two-sided affair. This is because the vice has become more sophisticated to detect and thus measures of ensuring that the nutrients that athletes take do not give them an added advantage on the field have become more stringent.

There is a thin line between nutrient enrichment for the athletes and doping (Sport’s Doping Game: Surveillance in the Biotech Age, 2011). Some cases of doping have shocked sports spectators and officials alike as the athlete claim that they have no idea what they have been eating is actually doping. If such a case exists, then the problem cannot be placed entirely on the athletes. The anti-doping officials need to inform all athletes in all disciplines what constitute doping and the nutrients that either directly or indirectly lead to doping. By indirectly, we mean that some nutrient undergo metabolism in the body producing certain products that are actually doping. It is about time that this thin line is addressed and information distributed to athletes before we condemn them. The use of drug testing to regularly monitor the presence or even the increasing popularity of seemingly unknown substances is important.

Who is To Blame for Drug Use in Sports?

This article is in no way stating that doping is not to be blamed on athletes. On the contrary, about 90% of doping cases are usually the athlete’s own doing (Dowbiggin, 2009). However, such cases need to be addressed to avoid erroneous stripping of medals to deserving athletes and further stern actions that are taken in those cases.

In most societies, athletes are seen as heroes, people who offer hope and inspiration (Sport’s Doping Game: Surveillance in the Biotech Age, 2011). The basic understanding in many people is that the athletes are normal human beings who just work hard and eat well, and their hard work elevates them above all others in the field of sport. When such athletes are misconstrued to be doping, then the whole idea of heroes in the games to inspire the youth in the society is dealt a significant blow. Apart from that, doping also discourages many upcoming athletes. Most of them will see athletics as a sport that is tough to make it without the use of doping agents and when caught all is lost (Ruiz & Schwirtz, 2016). With such a perception, many young people are likely to give their hopes of becoming renowned sportsmen and women, up.

If this discouragement continues, then we may end up with no athletes in the future. Censorship is vital in the sports field when it comes to doping, but we need to ensure that all cases are well founded. Doping consequences for athletes need to be accurate because the effects if these actions affect many people across several divides as illustrated above. This brings us back to the primary purpose of this article, to draw a line on what constitutes doping and what does not? This is because what the stringent measure of doping has so far done is to instill fear in young athletes. This fear is useful in ensuring that they do not engage in doping when they reach a climax to their career. However, this fear also inhibits them from having proper nutrient care because they do not know what to eat and not eat as it may end up being doping (Dowbiggin, 2009). Therefore, there is a crucial need to get the right facts out there particularly in developing countries. This will ensure that such young athletes will able to reach their potential through hard work and adequate and appropriate nutrient intake without the fear of eating something that is potentially a doping agent whether directly or indirectly.

In a nutshell, the need for an improved and the more involving anti-doping campaign is long overdue. Athletes need to be well informed about nutrients particularly those that act as doping agents when they are metabolized in the body. This will improve the efficiency of the anti-doping measures currently being enforced. It will also ensure that the fear that the exercise instills in the athletes does not lead them to eat poorly by fearing to ingest certain foods that might contain these doping agents. By so doing, the problem of doping will have been well covered whereby athletes abide by the rules more strictly and flexibly feeling relaxed that they cannot get themselves into trouble without knowing.

References
Dowbiggin, B. (2009). Playing Fair. Beaver, 89(6), 23
Ruiz, R. R., & Schwirtz, M. (2016, May 13). An Insider In Sochi Tells How Russia Beat Doping Tests. (cover story). New York Times. pp. A1-B11.
Sport’s Doping Game: Surveillance in the Biotech Age. (2011). Sociology of Sport Journal, 28(4), 387-403.

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Which 5 Panel Test is Best?

There are multiple types of drug tests available. Drug testing is most commonly done by collecting hair, urine, saliva, perspiration and blood. Once ingested, the human body immediately begins to metabolize any drug creating drug metabolites. Most humans metabolize drugs at very similar rates. This is why any type of drug test will not be more or less accurate from one person to the next. However the level of accuracy each type of drug tests provides can be dependent on several other factors.

The time that has elapsed or the time period that should be tested is the biggest factor. Drug testing with blood is the most accurate if it is believed that someone is currently under the influence of a drug. This is why the police use blood testing to determine whether or not someone is intoxicated or otherwise impaired. When it comes to determining if someone has used drugs in the recent past, urine testing is the most accurate, and most prefer the detection provided by 5 panel drug tests. Drug metabolites collect in the highest concentrations in the bladder making Urine testing the most accurate test if the person being tested is believed to have used the drug in the last 7 days. To get an accurate result when it has been more than 30 from the time the drug was ingested, hair must be used. Drug metabolites get trapped in the hair at the time that the person is ingesting the drug and remains there for up to three months. Another thing that can affect the accuracy of a drug test is human interference. The person being tested can ingest certain substances that make a urine test produce a false result. Certain substances can also be applied to the hair to give a false result in a hair drug test also. Though the lab could miss-handle a specimen or miss-label a specimen, the chances of this are very low, making the blood drug test the most accurate if any human interference is present or predicted. Scientifically, urine testing is the most accurate. Urine testing is the most mature technology leaving it giving the most accurate test results when the testing methods are compared.

In conclusion, it would impossible to determine which type of drug test is the most accurate if not given additional details concerning the situation. For the highest possible level of accuracy, a combination of several types of drug tests should be performed and the results from all of them combined.

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Mandatory Drug Test for all Welfare Recipients in 14 Sates & Canada

Lab Drug Testing

When a drug test is sent to the lab, the contents of the vial, swab, or container will be analyzed. It is a sterile environment with clear, yes-or-no answers. Does this person have marijuana in their system? Yes. Has this person used a particular drug within the last 24-hours? No. What these tests do not tell people, however, is context. Drug use is a land of gray area, within which clear-cut answers are few and far between.

Drug tests are nonjudgmental by nature

They are inanimate objects that cannot furrow a brow at a positive screen, or “tsk-tsk” at one’s choices. Yet somehow, human nature enters the pictures and, in doing so, inserts stigma and turned-up noses, scoffing at the fact that they too could have easily fallen into a situation where their own drug test would reflect substance use. The stigma is real—we see it in all things related to substance use. Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, mailing in drug tests rather than receiving results in person, or ensuring confidentiality in substance use treatment programs. Addiction is often under treated, so how are treatment efforts widened while minimizing the shame, the stigma, of substance use? The conversation needs to be more open, more accepting, and context has to be considered. We exist as a function of our circumstances and our situations; who we are does not exist in a vacuum.

It is said that there are five stages of change: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Once someone recognizes a problem and is thinking of making a change, thus beginning the contemplation and preparation stages, their support needs to be free of judgment so that person has the best chance of making it. Hiding in substance use is easy; facing substance abuse directly takes strength, determination, and resilience. This is done most successfully in an open, accepting environment. So realistically, the general public needs to adjust its attitude on  drug use in two ways. First, it should substantiate the results of the drug test—did the occurrence happen or not. Free of opinions, absent of stigma. However society also needs to show compassion, acceptance, and empathy, taking the drug-test perspective to a level more human. In opening up the conversation in these two ways, treatment and prevention efforts for substance use will be more widespread and generally more effective. Change the conversation in order to change the behavior.

Depending on your point of view drug, testing can be either good or bad

Many companies perform drug tests to ensure that their workers are following company regulation or to make sure their judgment or motor skills are not being impaired while performing their duties. Other times it is to set a standard of conduct around the workplace, ensuring that there is no tolerance for this type of behavior.

Easy examples we can observe are athletes, major sporting organizations implemented such regulations to keep the sport at an even level. Making sure players were not injecting themselves with steroids to attain a better edge over their opponents. Back in the 90s, many professional baseball players were intoxicating themselves with harmful drugs to improve their batting averages. It did improve significantly, yet it harmed them very much. Due to steroids, many were having unexplained rage towards their families, fights broke out more often and player injury increased. Many were caught consuming these drugs, and years later many people contemplated, whether or not it was worth it to see their favorite players hit a home run every game. The regulation in this case was implemented to ensure the players did not skew the game in their favor or harm themselves.

Commercial businesses also perform drug tests when hiring new employees. Drugs are not necessarily used to enhance a person’s capabilities while performing their job duty in this situation, although some people do take Adderall. The drug test is to ensure that an employee will not have their judgment impaired to complete their tasks. If an employee comes in after smoking marijuana his body and mind will be in a very relaxed stated and his motor skills would decrease, therefore he probably will not be as efficient as someone who is completely clean. Another example is the military; every single branch performs a drug test. The military needs to have their soldiers prepared for any situation at all times when on active duty. A soldier is part of a team that is constantly working together to ensure each other’s safety. If a group is doing a reconnaissance mission and a soldier is, intoxicated he could jeopardize the mission and even get the rest of the team killed. In this situation, they are doing it for the safety of the team and the individual. Drug testing may not seem like one of the greatest ideas but it is necessary in many organizations for them to perform their duties.

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