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03/13/2008 - Company Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs Prove Effective
Over the last 19 years, company drug and alcohol testing programs have led to a substantial reduction in the number of positive drug test results among U.S. workers and job applicants.
According to a new report released by Quest Diagnostics, positive employee drug test results have decreased significantly since the Madison, N.J.-based company published its first Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index. In 2007, the positivity rate for the combined U.S. workforce was 3.8 percent, down from 13.6 percent in 1988.
Positivity rates among Federally regulated safety-sensitive employees also continue to trend downward. Safety-sensitive employees tested positive at a rate of 1.8 percent in 2007, down from 2 percent in 2006, 2.3 percent in 2005 and 2004, and 2.5 percent in 2003. The 2007 rate is based on more than 1.8 million tests conducted in 2007. Federally regulated safety-sensitive workers include pilots, bus and truck drivers, nuclear power plant workers and others regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Meanwhile, the general U.S. workforce positivity rate of 4.4 percent in 2007 was the same as the 2006 rate. The 2007 rate is based on more than 6.6 million tests conducted in 2007.
The combined workforce results are based on 8.4 million tests conducted on both safety-sensitive and general workforce employees. While the overall positivity rate was the same in 2006 and 2007, positivity rates for methamphetamines and cocaine dropped considerably. The percentage of positive tests for methamphetamines dropped more than 22 percent between 2006 and 2007, and positive tests for cocaine dropped 19 percent during this same period.
Quest Diagnostics also reported a 5.3 percent increase in the positivity rate for amphetamines in the combined workforce.
“Although some may conclude that there is a reduced availability for methamphetamine, the fact that our data show an increase in amphetamines suggests that some workers might be replacing one stimulant drug for another in the larger drug class of amphetamines,” Barry Sample, Ph.D., a Quest Diagnostics director of science and technology, said in a released statement.
Results by Drug Category
Federally regulated safety-sensitive employees are tested for amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, opiates and PCP. At 0.88 percent, the positivity rate for marijuana was the highest among the five prohibited substances. Of the tests conducted on safety-sensitive employees in 2007, 0.44 percent were positive for cocaine, 0.25 percent were positive for amphetamines, 0.18 percent were positive for opiates and 0.04 percent were positive for PCP.
Employers with Drug Free Workplace Programs often test employees for more than the five substances prohibited by the DOT. In more than 6.6 million general workplace employee tests, marijuana (2.34 percent) and cocaine (0.58 percent) had high positivity rates. Oxycodones at 0.88 percent, Benzodiazepines at 0.67 percent and Propoxyphene at 0.58 percent were also in the top five drug categories.
The combined workforce, which includes safety-sensitive and general workforce employees, had high positivity rates for marijuana (2.01 percent), Oxycodones (0.88 percent), Benzodiazepines (0.67 percent), Propoxyphene (0.58 percent) and Cocaine (0.55 percent).
Results by Test Type
The Quest Index also tracks positivity rates by test type. In 2007, safety-sensitive employees tested positive in 11.1 percent of For Cause tests, 3.3 percent of Return-to-Duty tests, 2.8 percent of Follow-Up tests, 2.6 percent of Post-Accident tests, 2.0 percent of Pre-employment tests, 1.5 percent of Random tests, and 0.75 percent of Periodic tests.
Among the general U.S. workforce, employees tested positive at a rate of 19.2 percent in For Cause tests, 7.7 percent in Follow-Up tests, 5.8 percent in Post-Accident tests, 5.7 percent in Random tests, 5.6 percent in Return-to-Duty tests, 3.9 percent in Pre-employment tests and 1.4 percent in Periodic tests.
All of the tests included in this study were conducted by Quest Diagnostics between January and December 2007.
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