Drug News You Can Use

68 percent of adult male arrestees test positive for drug use

A new federal study found that 68 percent of adult men booked into the Hennepin County jail tested positive for illegal drug use during a random, voluntary sampling conducted earlier this year.

Marijuana was the most common drug detected — 55 percent of those arrested tested positive — followed by cocaine at 16 percent, opiates at six percent, methamphetamines at 4 percent and oxycodone at 1.5 percent. Nearly 19 percent of the new inmates tested positive for more than one drug.

Expanded ADA disabilities coverage may affect drug testing

We all anticipated that the Ameri­­cans with Disabilities Act Amend­­ments Act (ADAAA) would make it easier for certain medical conditions to qualify as protected disabilities. That was, after all, the point of the law.

Earlier this year, the EEOC provided an example of just how well the ADAAA may do that. It issued an in­­formal discussion letter noting that it will now be easier for individuals with paruresis—commonly known as “shy bladder syndrome”—to meet the statutorily revised definition of a disability.

If you administer urinalysis drug tests to employees or job applicants, that could force you to change your procedures or adopt a different kind of test.

In light of this EEOC informal discussion letter and the broad definition of disability under the ADAAA, take care if you require applicants or employees to undergo urinalysis-based drug tests. Use caution before subjecting individuals with paruresis to adverse employment actions be­­cause they are unable to take a drug test through urinalysis.

If you face this situation, conduct an individualized assessment to determine whether the individual, in fact, qualifies as an individual with a disability under the ADAAA. If he or she does qualify (it’s reasonably likely), consider allowing an alternative drug test that does not involve urination. Among the possibilities: hair or saliva tests, or a so-called patch test in which a subject wears a patch for several days that detects the presence of drugs in an individual’s perspiration.

Teens drinking bleach to pass (urine) drug tests

People will go to great lengths to pass a drug test, but the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office says there is a popular trend among young people who try to beat these tests and it could kill you. Some have been ingesting bleach.

Not everyone scours the web for a drug test solution. Mahoney said some people look no further than under their kitchen sink.

“We have had cases where they have ingested straight bleach, and it caused significant damage to their body,” said Mahoney.

With a quick search, your browser will be flooded with products claiming to wash away any drugs in your system. There are drinks, chewable tablets and a prosthetic called the Whizzinator.

Household bleach strips chemicals and odors from surfaces and fabrics, so you can only imagine what it does when consumed.

Psychemedics Gives Stoners a Hair-Pulling Experience

Published on Benzinga (http://www.benzinga.com)

Psychemedics Gives Stoners a Hair-Pulling Experience
Posted on 11/07/11 at 1:31pm by John Thorpe

Whether you’re a pill-popper, a pot-head or a crack-head, Psychemedics (NASDAQ: PMD [2]) has the technology to sniff you out before your potential employer offers you a job.

Utilizing hair analysis technology, this smaller, Boston-area company delves into a potential employee’s recent drug history, saving employers the time and hassle of hiring drug-addicted employees. According to the company’s website, psychemedics.com [3], “Government studies from the late 1980s and early 1990s estimated that employing a drug user costs an employer an average of $7,000 to $10,000 per year. These are conservative estimates and if the studies were done in 2010, the costs would be much more.”

In other words, companies are literally throwing money away by not drug testing their employees. Considering that roughly 3 in 4 drug users is employed somewhere in America, many companies have turned to drug testing as an investment — a way to cut costs by eliminating larger health care bills and absenteeism down the road. For years, the standard means of drug testing has been urinalysis. Almost everyone has, at one time or another, been forced to pee into a little cup in front of a nurse, all so that nurse can verify your urine doesn’t show evidence of drug use.

By now, most people have figured out how to beat a urine test. Most of the people I know who smoke pot regularly passed a urine test before accepting their current job. Why? Because it’s stupidly easy to beat. That’s where Psychemedics comes in.

According to the company, “On average, 85% of the drug users identified by Psychemedics would have been missed by urinalysis. This is due not only to our much longer detection window of approximately 3 months, but also to our unique proprietary technology.” I would have to imagine that an 85 percent higher success rate would raise some eyebrows in the human resources departments of companies that employ drug testing as part of their HR process.

Apparently, Wall Street has noticed as well. Psychemedics just posted their quarterly earnings last week, and the results were good. Revenues rose by 24 percent year over year, coming in at $6.3 million. Net income was up 35 percent, to $1.1 million from $817k the previous third quarter. This led to a dividend of $0.12 per share, the 61st straight quarter that Psychemedics paid out a dividend.

“Our third quarter results were strong, both on the top line as well as earnings. The majority of our growth came from new business. However, in light of the current tepid economic environment, we were also encouraged to see growth in our base business. We continued to have robust margins including a 29% pre-tax margin. While we maintained tight cost control, we also continue to make investments in sales and marketing,” said CEO Raymond C. Kubacki.

Kubacki also announced that the company was continuing its stock repurchase program.

Psychemedics is the world’s largest provider of hair testing for drugs of abuse with thousands of corporations relying on the patented Psychemedics drug testing services. Psychemedics’ clients include over 10% of the Fortune 500, some of the largest police departments in America and six Federal Reserve Banks.

Interestingly enough, the company offers more than just a sales pitch for potential clients on their web site. They’ve also got words of caution for folks who visit the site, looking for ways to beat their drug-testing system.

Anyone who is abusing drugs and being required to take the Psychemedics hair test should clearly understand the following:

•Abstaining from drug use for several days is not going to work with our test. On average, we can detect usage several months back and detect drug usage 5 to 10 times more effectively than urinalysis.
•Unlike other less effective hair tests, our hair test can detect marijuana users at a higher rate than urinalysis. Psychemedics spent many years of research to develop technology that allows us to detect marijuana users 4 to 7 times more frequently than urinalysis.
•Shaving your head hair will not prevent you from submitting a sample. We are not limited to just head hair and can test body hair samples. Shaving all your hair won’t work either because most companies have policies for that specific tactic.
•Claiming your hair was contaminated by someone else’s drug is not a valid excuse. We have the most extensive wash process in the industry to account for any external contamination. This has been proven not only in independent studies, but upheld in 20 years of court cases.

Psychemedics Awarded ISO/IEC 17025 International Accreditation

Worldwide Leader in Hair Testing For Drugs of Abuse Recognized Internationally For Highest Quality Laboratory Standards

ACTON, Mass., Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Psychemedics Corporation, hair testing for drugs of abuse pioneer and leader for 25 years, announced today that its laboratory has received international accreditation (ISO/IEC 17025:2005) for a broad spectrum of laboratory testing including drugs of abuse and forensics in hair and urine specimens. The International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025 accreditation confirms international compliance and technical competence of the laboratory. Psychemedics was accredited by Forensic Quality Services – International (FQS-1), the country’s longest established provider of ISO accreditation in the United States.

Psychemedics’ dedicated laboratory is located in Culver City, California where hair samples from all over the world are processed. The laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation for drug screening and LC/MS/MS and GC/MS/MS equipment for the most sensitive confirmation testing. The state of the art laboratory allows Psychemedics to provide the most advanced drug testing services available.

“In an industry where all hair testing technology is not the same, Psychemedics’ proprietary technology continues to deliver the greatest sensitivity for identifying drug abusers. As the industry leader, Psychemedics has always maintained the highest standards and quality controls,” said Raymond C. Kubacki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “This additional recognition affirms to our growing number of international clients, as well as domestic clients, that they are partnered with one of the highest quality laboratories anywhere in the world.”

ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation provides formal recognition to laboratories that demonstrate technical competency, and maintains this recognition through periodic evaluations to ensure continued compliance. This international recognition is given to a select group of laboratories worldwide. The evaluation by an independent testing facility provides assurance of the laboratory’s ability to maintain stated quality standards, provide consistent results and continually improve customer satisfaction levels while conforming to international standards.

“Psychemedics has always had a commitment to excellence, as evidenced by the thousands of clients worldwide that rely upon our proprietary technology for their drug testing needs,” said Mr. Kubacki. “As the worldwide leader in hair testing for drugs of abuse, this international accreditation reinforces our continued commitment to meet the standards demanded by our global customer base.”

About Forensic Quality Services, Inc. – Forensic Quality Services (FQS) is a not-for-profit membership organization incorporated in Florida. FQS is the longest established provider of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditations to forensic testing agencies in the United States. FQS accredited the first US forensic testing agency to ISO/IEC 17025 and the first US forensic crime laboratory to ISO/IEC 17025. FQS was recognized in 2004 by National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation (NACLA) and today is a member in this organization. FQS is a full member and signatory of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and Inter American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC).

About Psychemedics Corporation – 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 and six Federal Reserve Banks. For more information, visit the Psychemedics website at www.psychemedics.com.