Regulatory Updates
From the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance
(ODAPC)
ODAPC has issued a Final Rule adding state-licensed or certified marriage and family therapists to the list of credentialed professionals eligible to serve as substance abuse professionals. The rule is effective September 22, 2006.
ODAPC also issued a clarification concerning refusal to test:
Sec. 40 191 What is a refusal to take a DOT drug test, and what are the consequences? As an employee, you have refused to take a drug test if you: Fail to undergo a medical examination or evaluation, as directed by the MRO as part of the verification process, or as directed by the DER under sec. 40. 193(d). In the case of a pre-employment drug test, the employee is deemed to have refused to test on this basis only if the pre-employment test is conducted following a contingent offer of employment.
Editor’s note: It is important to note that, for a pre-employment test, a contingent offer of employment must have been made before the individual would be considered to have refused to test.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
FMCSA published a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on August 7, 2006. The following questions apply to the drug testing program:
- Question: Can a driver be qualified if he is taking Methadone (commonly prescribed as a replacement when an individual is trying to stop using heroin)?
Answer: No, commercial motor vehicle drivers taking Methadone cannot be qualified.
- Question: Can a driver be qualified if taking prescribed medical marijuana?
Answer: No, drivers taking medical marijuana cannot be certified.
- Question: Can a driver be certified who tests positive for a prescription controlled substance on the test, but claims that the prescription was legally prescribed five years before?
Answer: No, controlled substances expire no later than one year after the date of the original prescription.
From the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
According to the conclusions of a study conducted by the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions, workplace alcohol use and impairment affects an estimated 15 percent of the U.S. workforce, or 19.2 million workers.
The study, which was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, was based on the results of telephone interviews with a representative sample of 2,805 employed adults aged 18 to 65. Data gathered indicate that an estimated 2.3 million workers (1.8 percent of the workforce) have consumed alcohol at least once before coming to work and 8.9 million workers (7.1 percent of the workforce) have consumed alcohol at least once during the work day. Most workers who reported drinking during the work day said they did so during lunch breaks, though some drank while working or during other breaks. Also, an estimated 2.1 million workers (1.7 percent of the workforce) worked under the influence of alcohol and 11.6 million workers (9.2 percent of the workforce) worked with a hangover. Read More
From the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
(Editor’s Note: The following brief message from the Director of NIDA provides excellent information for passing on to employees. Although this particular situation is relatively uncommon at this time, it serves as a timely reminder of the danger individuals face when they choose to use “street” drugs.)
Fentanyl Use in Combination with Street Drugs Leading To Death in Some Cases
A deadly drug combination has been eliciting a great deal of media attention lately. Dozens of individuals in the Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit areas have overdosed on a combination of heroin (or cocaine) and fentanyl, a narcotic analgesic that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine—and some have died. A powerful opiate pain reliever typically used after surgery or to treat patients with severe pain, fentanyl, like many prescription medications, can be deadly when abused.
Read More
Did You Know?
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Survey Reveals Majority of HR Professionals’ Organizations Drug Test
The majority of human resource professionals who participated in a survey conducted in March 2006 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported that their organizations conduct some form of drug testing.
The 454 randomly selected participants were asked whether or not their organization has a written policy addressing drug testing and what types of testing their organization utilizes. Nearly three-quarters (70.3 percent) said their organization has a written policy that addresses drug testing. Broken down by type of testing, the results were as follows:
| Pre-Employment |
83.5 percent |
| Reasonable Suspicion |
73.3 percent |
| Post-Accident |
58.1 percent |
| Random |
39.4 percent |
| Scheduled |
14.3 percent |
| Baseline |
1.0 percent |
| Other |
5.4 percent |
Examples of responses provided to the Other category included, but were not limited to, post-rehabilitation, return-to-duty and follow-up testing and certain specialized situations, such as testing mandated under DOT regulations and particular construction contract requirements.
The Top 10 Misused Drugs
Tobacco: biggest killer (400,000 deaths /year)
Alcohol: most widely abused legal substance
Prescription drugs: dangerously addictive, rising in popularity
Methamphetamine: labeled an epidemic problem
Marijuana: most widely abused illegal substance
MDMA (Ecstasy): little research on long term effects, still popular
Crack cocaine: cheap, destructive drug making a comeback
Heroin: highly addictive drug making a comeback in some areas
Steroids: horrible side effects, the toll they’re taking on athletics
Inhalants: abuse is on the rise among youth again
Source: www.streetdrugs.org
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. In a continuation of our August newsletter’s focus on general “Signs of Drug Use,” this month’s topic is taken from a U.S. Department of Labor publication and discusses, “Workplace Symptoms and Intervention Techniques.”
Workplace Symptoms and Intervention Techniques
If substance abuse is contributing to an employee’s poor performance, ignoring or avoiding the issue will not help the situation. An employee’s use of alcohol or drugs may be the root of the performance problem; however, substance abuse on the part of someone close to the employee could also be the source. Regardless, abuse of alcohol or other drugs inevitably leads to costly and potentially dangerous consequences in the workplace unless action is taken to confront the issue.
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