The USIS mission is to support our clients with quality driver screening and substance abuse testing information, products and services. We strive for excellence as we fulfill our promises and raise the level of integrity in the workplace.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

14 CFR Parts 61, 63, 65, 67, 91, 121, and 135

Disqualification for Airman and Airman Medical Certificate Holders Based on Alcohol Violations or Refusals to Submit to Drug and Alcohol Testing

On June 21, 2006, the FAA issued a final rule that changes the airman medical certification standards to disqualify an airman based on an alcohol test result of 0.04 or greater breath alcohol concentration (BAC) or a refusal to take a drug or alcohol test required by the Department of Transportation (DOT) or a DOT agency. The rulemaking standardizes the time period for reporting refusals and certain test results to the FAA, and requires employers to report pre-employment and return-to-duty test refusals. It also amends the airman medical certification requirements to allow suspension or revocation of airman medical certificates for pre-employment and return-to-duty test refusals. The FAA also updated the regulations to recognize current breath alcohol testing technology.

The amendments become effective July 21, 2006 read more

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Highway Safety Programs; Model Specifications for Devices to Measure Breath Alcohol

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a revised Conforming Products List (CPL) for instruments that conform to the Model Specifications for Evidential Breath Testing Devices. The CPL lists breath alcohol testing devices that are approved for use in conducting tests mandated by the federal government.

From the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy & Compliance

Editor’s Comment: The DOT finds that certain questions pertaining to the drug/alcohol testing program are common and recurring. The following questions and answers have been extracted from those published by the DOT.

May the previous employer delay sending an employee’s drug and alcohol testing information to the gaining employer pending payment for the cost of the information?

No. Part 40 specifically requires that previous employers immediately provide the gaining employer with the appropriate drug and alcohol testing information.

No one (i.e., previous employer, service agent [to include C/TPA], employer information/data broker) may withhold this information from the requesting employer pending payment for it. read more

Did You Know?

A majority of current and former prisoners (60 to 80 percent) in the nation’s criminal justice system were convicted on drug-related charges:

Possession, trafficking, crimes committed while under the influence of drugs, or crimes committed to support an addiction.

A vaccine to prevent nicotine addiction is being developed.

The vaccine triggers the production of antibodies that bind nicotine in the blood and keep it from reaching the brain. In clinical trials, healthy smokers who received the vaccine did not experience craving or withdrawal symptoms, nor did they increase the number of cigarettes smoked during a 38-week study and follow-up.

2004 Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey of College Students and Adults

Prescription drug abuse among students in U.S. colleges and universities has been rising for years. An estimated 7.4 percent of college students use the painkiller hydrocodone (Vicodin) without a prescription with similar rates for other opioid medications, stimulants, and sedatives.

For stimulants, men were twice as likely as women (5.8 percent versus 2.9 percent) to have abused methylphenidate (Ritalin), dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), and amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (Adderall). Stimulant medication abuse was also more prevalent among students who were:

Students who abused prescription stimulants reported higher levels of cigarette smoking, heavy drinking, risky driving, and abuse of marijuana, MDMA (Ecstasy), and cocaine. Compared with other survey respondents, for example, they were 20 times as likely to report past-year cocaine abuse and five times as likely to report driving after heavy drinking.

The campus prevalence of past-year stimulant abuse ranged from 0 percent at 20 colleges, including the three historically African-American institutions included in the survey, to 25 percent. The prevalence was 10 percent or higher at 12 colleges. Students attending colleges in the Northeast, schools with more competitive admission standards, and non-commuter schools reported higher rates of abuse.

Focus On:

The DAC News Service seeks to inform by providing information on topics of broad interest and concern to employers. Therefore, from time-to-time, we will select subjects we believe to be relevant and informative to the workplace environment.

Trouble in the Medicine Chest: Rx Drug Abuse Growing

Students in big cities are “pharming” these days--“pharming” being new lexicon for grabbing a handful of prescription drugs and ingesting some or all of them. Young people steal grandma’s pills and distribute them at school. Senior citizens falsify their prescriptions for more pain medication. Babysitters take pills from cabinets. An Ohio real estate agent loses her license for pilfering pills from bathrooms at Open Houses.

These are all scenes from the latest drug frenzy, getting high (or low) from prescription drugs. The appeal is obvious. The drugs can be legally obtained, the stigma of going to a street pusher can be avoided, and the price isn’t steep. There are an estimated 800,000 web sites which sell prescription drugs on the Internet and will ship them to households, no questions asked. Today, about one-third of all U.S. drug abuse is prescription drug abuse. read more

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