Drug News You Can Use

Sante Fe School Takes Strong Stance Against Drugs

A school in Santa Fe is taking a strong stance in its fight against drugs.

Starting next fall, St. Michael’s Catholic School plans to begin randomly drug testing its students, and that has a lot of parents talking.

“It doesn’t matter what school, what city, what town, you’re going to find drugs. No family’s going be exempt from this program,” Principal Sam Govea said.

The school will randomly assign students to groups, and when their group is called, it’s test time. Students will give a hair sample. If they fail once, they will get a warning.

“If it does come back positive, the student will have 100 days to clean up and we will support them with that,” Govea said

Should record companies start mandatory drug testing?

There have been so many artists in the music industry plagued by problems with drugs and alcohol over the years.

Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson – the list goes on and on … and now, everyone’s talking about the death of Whitney Houston. Although the official toxicology reports have yet to be released, it’s no secret that the pop icon had a tough battle with her addictions as well.

Some are asking, can the recording industry do anything differently to prevent even more of these tragic deaths?

On Dr. Drew Monday night, R&B singer Nicci Gilbert, who was with Houston two nights before her death, came up with a possible solution.

“Everyone is in a frenzy to find out what these artists are taking after they die,” she said. “Why aren’t record companies doing the same thing that the NFL or the NBA [are doing] – mandatory drug testing. They have 360 contracts where they take everything else. Why can’t they say in that agreement: ‘You’re going to be tested randomly.’”

Gilbert added, “If you have an issue, why aren’t there doctors that record companies work with on a regular basis that they know. If you get sick, ‘you go to this guy, because he’s not just going to give you anything you want.’ And when you start taking anything you want as an artist or as a performer, then you should be held accountable for that then – not after you die.”

Dr. Drew responded, “I love that.”

DOD Testing Program to Screen for More Prescription Drugs

The Defense Department’s drug-testing program is expanding to add screening for two additional prescription medications to the range of legal and illegal drugs it currently detects.

Joe Angello, the department’s director of operational readiness and safety, told Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters the two drugs added to the screening program — hydrocodone and benzodiazepines — are nationally among the most abused prescription drugs now on the market. The program already tests for codeine and morphine, he noted.

As patterns of drug misuse change, the drug testing program responds by adding more testing procedures, he noted.

Hydrocodone is a component of a number of prescription painkillers, including Vicodin, while benzodiazepines are a class of antidepressant medication present in a range of drugs that includes Xanax and Valium.

It is time to get tough about drugs at work

Chris Hamilton, senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said those two states have suspended 2,000 coal miners who failed drug tests. Some of them are licensed in West Virginia and could mine here.

Companies are trying to screen for drug abuse.

“A number of companies have instituted mandatory drug testing programs over the past few years,” Hamilton said. “Not all companies have followed those progressive steps. There’s some inconsistency within the industry at the current time.”

Phil Smith, spokesman for the United Mine Workers, said no union miner wants to work beside an impaired employee.

“That includes supervisors, contractors, inspectors, truck drivers, upper management and anyone else who may come onto mine property,” he said.

Psychemedics Awarded Patent Fundamental To Hair Analysis Drug Testing

The world’s largest drug testing company using hair analysis received its seventh United States Patent dedicated to liquefying hair to release drug analytes.

Acton, Massachusetts, January 24, 2012 – Psychemedics Corporation (NASDAQ:PMD) , hair testing pioneer and global leader for 25 years, announced today that the United States Patent Office issued a seventh patent, US No. 8,084,215, to the company. This patent focuses on liquefying hair and releasing drugs trapped in the hair without destroying the drugs. The new patented method can be used with a broad range of immunoassay screen techniques, mass spectrometry methods, and chromatographic procedures.

Raymond C. Kubacki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are pleased to have received this patent which is fundamental to all hair analysis drug testing. This patent covers the efficient digestion of hair and release of the drugs without destroying the drugs—getting virtually 100% of the drug out of the hair. This is fundamental to hair analysis drug testing because if you cannot get the drugs out of the hair, the drugs cannot be measured.” Kubacki continued, “Our ability to successfully release drug analytes from hair enables us to accurately identify more drug users, setting Psychemedics apart from all other hair testing technologies.”

Kubacki added, “Psychemedics Corporation has, for 25 years, offered the most effective hair testing technology based upon scientifically validated drug testing methods. Receiving this patent demonstrates our on-going commitment to achieving the best possible test to accurately identify the greatest number of drug users.”

About Psychemedics – Psychemedics (NASDAQ: PMD) is the world’s leading drug testing company using hair for the detection of drugs of abuse. Psychemedics has been successfully operating for 25 years and thousands of corporations worldwide currently rely on Psychemedics’ proprietary hair analysis technology for their pre-employment and employee drug screening. Psychemedics’ clients include over 10% of the Fortune 500, some of the largest police departments in America, six Federal Reserve Banks, and schools. For more information, visit the Psychemedics website at www.psychemedics.com.