Regulatory Updates

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

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Appoints a New Drug and Alcohol Program Manager

PHMSA announced that Cindy Ingrao will serve as the drug and alcohol program manager. Prior to PHMSA, Ingrao served in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Drug Abatement Division.

When is FMCSA Post-Accident Testing Required?

According to 49 CFR Part 382.303, a post-accident test is required when the following conditions apply:

Accident occurred on a public road with any of the following:	Citation Issued to the CMV Driver	Employer to Perform DOT Drug and Alcohol Test
Employer to Perform DOT Drug and Alcohol Test	Yes	Yes
	No	Yes
Bodily injury to anyone involved in the accident that resulted in immediate medical treatment away from the accident scene	Yes	Yes
	No	No
Any vehicle disabled that required being towed away	Yes	Yes
	No	No

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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

Revisions to the DHHS Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs were withdrawn from the Office of Management and Budget review process on June 30, 2006. This action means that the Final Notice of Revisions to the DHHS Guidelines concerning alternative specimens for federal workplace drug testing programs will be delayed by a minimum of 90 days.

Editor’s Note: These revisions would have allowed the use of certain samples/technologies, other than urine, for drug tests required by federal regulations. Hair, sweat and saliva specimens are all under consideration. With these alternative specimens, confirmation technology, such as GC/MS, will most likely remain the same; however, detection windows may expand significantly.

Did You Know?

Recently released results from the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that the rate of substance abuse among all Americans in 2004 was similar to that of 2002 and 2003. Some 19 million Americans, or about 8 percent of the population aged 12 and older, used illicit drugs in the month leading up to the survey. On a positive note, drug abuse among adolescents aged 12 to 17 declined 9 percent between 2002 and 2004.

Non-medical use of prescription pain relievers was the drug category with the largest number of new users in the 12 months prior to the survey, at 2.4 million, compared with 2.1 million for marijuana, 1.2 million for non-medical use of tranquilizers, and 1.0 million for cocaine. Marijuana continued to be the most commonly used illicit drug in 2004, with a use rate of 6.1 percent (14.6 million past-month users) for the U.S. population aged 12 and older.

Young adults aged 18 to 25 had the highest overall rates of substance abuse among the age groups surveyed, as well as the highest rates for the abuse of specific substances, including binge and heavy drinking (41 percent and 15 percent, respectively), past-month cigarette smoking (39.5 percent), and non-medical use of prescription medications. When asked if they had ever used a prescription medication not prescribed for them or just for the experience or feeling it caused, 29 percent of the young adults said yes; 6 percent said they had done so in the past month. Nearly one in four (24 percent) had misused pain medications in 2004, up from 22 percent in 2002.

Editor’s note: Young people who believed their parents would strongly disapprove of their trying marijuana were much less likely to try the substance than those who believed their parents would only somewhat disapprove or would be indifferent. Among the former, 5 percent reported past-month marijuana abuse, compared with 30 percent of the latter.

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. This month’s topic highlights “Signs of Drug Use.”

Signs of Drug Use

General

Narcotics: Lethargy, drowsiness, euphoria, nausea, constipation, constricted pupils, slowed breathing.

Hallucinogens: Trance-like state, excitation, euphoria, increased pulse rate, insomnia, hallucinations.

Alcohol: Slurred speech, impaired judgment and motor skills, incoordination, confusion, tremors, drowsiness, agitation, nausea and vomiting, respiratory ailments, depression.

Depressants: Drowsiness, confusion, incoordination, tremors, slurred speech, depressed pulse rate, shallow respiration, dilated pupils.

Cocaine/Crack Cocaine: Excitability, euphoria, talkativeness, anxiety, increased pulse rate, dilated pupils, paranoia, agitation, hallucinations.

Inhalants: Slurred speech, incoordination, nausea, vomiting, slowed breathing.

Marijuana: Mood swings, euphoria, slow thinking and reflexes, dilated pupils, increased appetite, dryness of mouth, increased pulse rate, delusions, hallucinations.

Stimulants: Excitability, tremors, insomnia, sweating, dry mouth and lips, bad breath, dilated pupils, weight loss, paranoia, hallucinations.

Tobacco: Smelly hair, clothes, and breath; yellowing of teeth; coughs; increased asthma attacks; shortness of breath and poorer athletic performance. After only a few weeks, users of spit tobacco can develop cracked lips, white spots, sores, and bleeding in the mouth.

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