Synthetic Marijuana, also known as "K-2" or "Spice" is a mixture of common herbs sprayed with synthetic chemicals that mirror the high of Marijuana. The synthetic product is sold as incense in head shops, tobacco stores and convenient stores. So far, twelve states have banned the sale of Synthetic Marijuana - (Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, and Kentucky). The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported that within the past year there have been over 500 cases of negative reactions to the still legal yet dangerous drug. On the national level the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently designated certain chemicals that are present within Synthetic Marijuana to the same category that heroin and LSD are part of and further emphasizes the need to be able to test blood and urine for Synthetic Marijuana use. On the local level- The Herald Online reported that Fort Mill,...
Ireland's Railway Safety Commission (RSC) is considering introducing random substance abuse and alcohol testing for rail workers. The commission already conducts substance abuse and alcohol tests on current rail workers but believes that unannounced tests could further increase safety standards. In 2007 and 2008 random tests were carried out on 156 Irish Rail (Iarnród Eireann) workers and only two tested positive for illegal substances. According to the Irish Sunday Business Post Online - In 26 tests on workers after an ‘‘incident’’, two tested positive for drugs; in another two situations where ‘‘for cause’’ testing was considered necessary, both were positive.