Drug testing programs aim to prevent the hiring of drug-using applicants while deterring drug use among current employees. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 21.4 percent of employed adults used illicit drugs within the past month.
Results from the 2014 Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™ (DTI) show that, in the general U.S. workforce, random urine drug test positivity rates are higher (5.7 percent) than they are for pre-employment (4.0 percent) or periodic (1.6 percent). Random or “spot” drug testing works as a drug use deterrent because these programs are conducted in an unannounced and unpredictable manner.
Utilizing a random drug testing program may help employers by:
Deterring current employees from engaging in drug use
Preventing the need for substance abuse recovery programs
Helping reduce health insurance costs
Improving attendance and employee productivity
Providing a safer workplace with reduced accidents
However, setting up a random drug testing program isn’t as simple as drawing names from a hat. The key to running a successful random testing program lies in the employee selection methodology. Employers should adopt reliable, repeatable processes to ensure accuracy and fairness for their program’s selection process. When administered properly, the operative word ‘random’ will hold true and individuals in the program will not know if and when their drug test will occur. This element of chance and risk acts as the drug use deterrent.
For more information on random program administration call Mobile Medical Corporation 888-662-8358.
The FDA recently voted in favor of pushing a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride for approval. The new OxyContin formula is more difficult to crush or dissolve which will hopefully make it harder to be used as a drug of abuse . The FDA recommended that Purdue Pharma's application for a new, resin-coated formulation should replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996. Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug said, "Clearly the old formulation is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small," Flick concluded, "Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within 'day or weeks' of the product's release on the market."