Drug News You Can Use

Hair Testing — Is It Right for Your Company?

Did you know that an astounding 75% of drug users are employed? Realizing the costs associated with drug use among workers, government studies as far back as the early 1990s estimated that employing a drug user costs an average of $7,000-$10,000 per year. If these studies were done today, the average costs would likely be much higher.

Given the fact that drug use impacts the productivity and quality of a workforce, many companies have turned to drug testing as an investment rather than a cost — and a way to reduce absenteeism, accident rates, workers’ compensation and turnover costs.

Hair analysis is a drug-testing method many companies rely on to identify periodic and habitual drug use by applicants or employees, especially in safety-sensitive positions. One of the distinct advantages of hair testing is the larger window of detection it offers over alternative drug-testing methods. Hair testing is also effective because it is resistant to adulteration, evasion and sample substitution. The collection and handling process is simple because there is no handling of bodily fluids, and hair samples can be shipped from anywhere in the world without the risk of deterioration during transit.

Psychemedics Corporation pioneered the use of hair testing for drugs of abuse over 25 years ago, and thousands of companies rely on their proprietary technology to screen out drug abusers. Their test involves using scissors to snip an undetectable sample of head hair, about the diameter of a pencil lead. The typical hair sample is about 1-1/2 inches in length and identifies drug use as far as three months back (each half inch section of hair equals approximately one month of history). If head hair is sparse or unavailable, body hair may be taken instead. The standard turnaround time for the test results is 24 hours following receipt of the sample for negatives, and an additional 3-5 days for positive results.

Another unique advantage of Psychemedics’ FDA-cleared test is that it not only detects if drugs of abuse have been used, but can also provide information on the quantity and pattern of individual drug use. Their test results have been continuously upheld by state and federal courts, and some court systems even rely upon the technology in their probationary and diversionary programs.

The five drugs of abuse groups analyzed in a Psychemedics hair test include:
1) Cocaine
2) Opiates (including heroin metabolite 6-MAM, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone and codeine)
3) Phencyclidine (PCP)
4) Amphetamines (including methamphetamine, amphetamine, MDMA-Ecstasy, MDEA-Eve and MDA)
5) Marijuana (carboxy-THC)

These groups include some of the most abused prescription drugs such as oxcodone (e.g., Oxycontin®, Percocet®, Percodan®, Roxicodone®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®, Lorcet®, Lortab®) and hydromorphone (Dilaudid®).

Teen Substance Abuse at Epidemic Levels

Substance abuse — a growing epidemic among teens — has been dubbed America’s No. 1 public health problem by a recent study, leaving some parents wondering how to help their children.

“Teens users are at significantly high risk of developing an addictive disorder, and the physical toll is bigger on their developing system,” according to NBC4′s Dr. Bruce Hensel.

A Columbia University study found that one in eight high school students in America has a substance abuse problem.

Jonathan Whitfield, the Medical Director at the Phoenix House Academy, said there are a number of reasons for this rise.

“It’s getting harder and harder to be a kid, and whether it’s peer pressure, or stress of life, I see a lot of kids who start using drugs to self-medicate. They medicate their own anxieties, their own depression,” Whitfield said.

Once they start abusing the substances, their brains become more susceptible to their effects, said Dr. David Sack, of Promises Treatment Centers.

“The synaptic connections in the brain continue to develop until about age 20. So that’s when teenagers start to use drugs chronically. They’re affecting nerve development in the brain, and that has long-term consequences,” Sack said.

Calgary High School Mourns Death of Teen Who Died After Taking Ecstasy

A city teen who was taken to hospital with an apparent ecstasy drug overdose over the weekend died early Wednesday, say police.

Sgt. Mike Bossley with the Calgary Police Service’s drug unit said the problem with ecstasy is that its contents are unknown and there are no controls with regard to drug production.

“Ecstasy is commonly known as MDMA. However, the drug MDMA is quite frequently not the only drug in ecstasy,” he said, adding tablets can be cut with a variety of drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine or ketamine, which all have adverse effects on the human body.

“It’s made by some guy in a basement somewhere or a garage, and he mixes it up. Every tablet can have different amounts of MDMA or methamphetamine in them, so you don’t know what you’re taking and that makes it very dangerous.”

He noted that ecstasy is also relatively accessible. It used to be known as a “rave drug” and remains a popular choice with youths using illicit drugs, he said.

New Drug Gains Popularity Among Teens

Doctors at a Santa Barbara addiction treatment center say it’s a growing trend in teen drug use. This new drug is the purest form of an already popular street drug–Ecstasy.

Santa Barbara Psychiatrist, Sherif El-Asyouty, M.D., says, “it is so scary. The newer designer drugs that is coming our way.”

Drug-dealers market “Molly” as the “purest” form of ecstasy.

“It sounds wholesome. Molly, the girl next door. In urban slang it means ‘pure’ MDMA,” explains Dr. P. Joseph Frawley.