Origin Diagnostics Drug Testing

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Adulteration is the intentional tampering with a urine sample by the donor to avoid detection of illicit drug use. Successful adulteration produces a false-negative drug test result.

Adulterants have often been used to mask the presence of an illicit drug and thus cheat a drug test. Because most urine collection procedures do not involve direct supervision, it is possible to add adulterants after specimen collection. Household chemicals, such as bleach, acid, vinegar, lemon juice, eye drops and table salt are routinely used to beat drug tests. These agents can cause false negative test results from the immunoassays used in urine drugs of abuse testing. However, specimen integrity tests can detect the presence of such adulterants because of altered pH, specific gravity and/or temperature.

More recently, commercial adulterants with names like Stealth, Klear and Urine Luck have become available on the Internet. These adulterants, when added to urine, can cause false negative results in drugs-of-abuse immunoassays, as well as in some gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) confirmation tests. These commercial adulterants some times cannot be detected by routine specimen integrity testing. Recently, however, spot tests have been described to detect these adulterants.

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Drug abuse, also known as substance abuse, is repeated excessive use of a chemical substance to achieve a certain effect. There are many reasons for substance abuse. If a person is under a lot of stress, coping with depression, or is dealing with untreated physical or emotional pain, a person may turn to drugs. It is imperative that you know and understand the signs of drug abuse first before reporting her to the human resources department.

Behavior signs
If you observe one or more of these behaviors in a person at work, it is possible that they are abusing drugs:

• deterioration in personal appearance
• restlessness or falls asleep at work
• chronic irritability or unpredictability in personality
• avoidance of co-workers
• blaming of others for work difficulties
• increased absenteeism
• expressing problems at home
• denial that anything is wrong
• sudden weight loss or weight gain

Performance signs
Often, more noticeable for employers are changes in a person’s work performance. These signs may be an indication that the person is involved in substance abuse:

• quality of work decreases
• productivity wanes
• arrives late to work, takes long lunch breaks, and leaves work early
• misses work often
• poor concentration, confusion
• disregard for safety
• errors in judgment

When to report employee drug abuse to human resources
Most companies have EAP (Employee Assistance Programs) to help an employee deal with problem situations such as substance abuse. It is only mandatory to report substance abuse in the workplace if the abuse is taking place on company grounds, it affects the employee’s work or affects other co-workers.

Other possibilities
Keep in mind that these signs may also be a warning of another problem with the person that has nothing to do with drugs, such as mental illness, depression or problems at home.
Trust your instincts
Whether you have witnessed someone at work doing drugs or suspect that she is doing drugs, don’t ignore your instincts that something is wrong. When in doubt, it is best to seek guidance in determining if the employee or your co-worker needs help.

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The cost to employers from illegal drug abuse is over $100 billion every year:

8.2% of full-time workers are current illicit drug uses
80% of drug abusers steal from their workplace
65% of all work related accidents are the direct result of substance abuse
As many as 50% of all workers’ compensation claims involve substance abuse

Employers have an obligation to provide a safe and healthy working environment. Employees who abuse drugs jeopardize the safety and well being of all employees and impact the bottom line. In these economically challenging times, it is more important than ever to prevent and reduce expenses related to substance abuse.

Each substance abuser costs an employer about $9,600 a year in:

Absenteeism
Low productivity
Loss Time From Accidents
Increased Health Care Costs
Increased Workers Compensation Costs
Loss Time Handling Confrontation/Conflicts

Regardless of which tests are done, drug testing always produces a positive return on investment:

Pre-employment drug testing can significantly improve applicant selectivity for your company. Why not avoid hiring an employee that might decrease safety, productivity and moral in your workplace, and cost you money?
Random drug testing has been shown to be a powerful deterrent to substance abuse in the workplace for existing employees. Such programs reduce accidents, improve productivity and may provide savings on workers compensation insurance premiums.
Reasonable Suspicion and Post-incident drug testing may be valuable in reducing liability in your operations. Reasonable Suspicion/ For Cause drug tests consistently produce the highest positive rates (18%).

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Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). It is the most often used illegal drug in this country. All forms of cannabis are mind-altering (psychoactive) drugs that contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana.

THC is the chemical in marijuana which makes you feel “high” (which means experiencing a change in mood and seeing or feeling things differently). Certain parts of the plant contain higher levels of THC. The flowers or “buds” have more THC than the stems or leaves.

When  marijuana is smoked, THC goes quickly into the blood through the lungs and then to the brain (this is when the “high” is felt and can happen within a few minutes and can last up to five hours). THC is absorbed more slowly into the blood when marijuana is eaten because it has to pass through the stomach and intestine and can take up to one hour to experience the “high” effects, which can last up to 12 hours. THC is absorbed quickly into body fat and is then released very slowly back into the blood. This process can take up to one month for a single dose of THC to fully leave the body.

Marijuana, the most often used illegal drug in this country, is a product of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana, also present in other forms of cannabis, is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Of the roughly 400 chemicals found in the cannabis plant, THC affects the brain the most.

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Employee drug testing has gained significant importance in organizations as it helps to find out drug abuse problems among employees. Maintaining a drug free environment fosters employee productivity, professionalism, and prevents absenteeism, addiction related crime, accidents, and injuries. Conducting pre-employment and random employee drug testing keeps a check on addiction and ensures prevailing of a safe and productive work environment.

Safety at Work Place

The organizations that conduct employee drug testing can ensure that the work environment is free from any form of addiction related crimes, injures, and accidents. Employee drug testing increases the safety at the job and maintains a safe and secure environment. Conducting pre-employment drug testing can prevent addicted persons from joining the organization and spoil the working environment. Random employee drug testing prevents existing employees to abuse to any kind of drug before coming to workplace.

Improves Productivity and Quality of Work

Employee productivity and professional environment is important for any business establishment. Drug abuse is a potential threat to any organization as it hampers the employee productivity and encourages negative traits and unprofessional behavior. Detecting drug abuse among present and future employees will lead to a healthier working environment. A healthier environment will increase the productivity and quality of work thereby increasing the profits of organization. It has been found that doing away with employees prone to addiction significantly improves productivity in organization and reduces accidents.

Reduces Health Costs of Company

The employee drug testing effectively eliminates the drug addicted employees and cleans the system. Thus, getting rid of such employee can save significant amount of money given by company towards health insurance premiums and other health costs. The addicted employees suffer from sudden mood swings and irrational behavior patterns that can result in work place accidents. The company can save health costs towards medical treatment of such employees due to workplace accidents and illnesses that occur due to addiction. Organizations can also save on recruitment costs towards hiring, firing, and training as employee drug testing ensures that present and future employees are drug abuse free.

Helps in Maintaining Integrity and Discipline

Drug free environment in organizations is a nurturing habitat for positive qualities like integrity, discipline, professionalism, productivity etc. Removing addicted employees ensures that there will be less workplace conflicts, unscrupulous behavior at workplaces. Removing addicted employees will also send a message across other employees that company has zero tolerance towards addiction. This helps to ensure that there is harmonious environment where integrity and discipline is maintained.

Employee drug testing can be effectively performed in organizations using saliva testing, urine testing and hair follicle testing. Saliva testing is non-invasive and provides instant results. Urine drug screening is done using test strips and provides accurate and reliable results. The hair follicle testing is non-invasive and performed in laboratories. It plays an important part in employee drug testing as it can give drug abuse history for much longer period of time.

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Let’s face it having a talk with your employees about drug use is probably the last thing you or your managers really want to deal with. Unfortunately, the wide spread use and prevalence of drug abuse make this a more common problem than you might realize. Use these quick tips to make sure your manager or supervisor is effective and compliant with the rights of the worker and employer.

1. Documentation. Objective facts matter. Use performance reviews, attendance records and other relevant documentation when discussing performance related issues.
2. Don’t Ignore it. The problem will get worse not better. Avoid potential injury or liability issues by addressing the issue before it becomes a problem.
3. Do NOT discuss Alcohol and Drug use or try to diagnose the problem. Stick to the facts even if you suspect something more. Implement the proper protocol designed to address the situation. For example, if it is standard procedure to use drug testing after any accidents then do so immediately in full compliance with established routines then wait for the test to validate or negate your concerns.
4. Never cover up or protect workers. You are enabling them, decreasing morale among other employees and putting your company at risk.
5. Limit comments and actions to those directly impacted and verified by documentations for example, attendance records, performance and productivity measures, complaints from other workers and so forth.
6. Protect employee confidentiality. Remember, the results of employee drug testing may be construed as health or medical related information and is therefore protected by law.
7. Understand the proper procedure and lines of communication outlined in your company policy and manuals. Ask questions in advance if there are areas of concern or questions you are not sure about.
8. Dont rely on memory. Document the facts as they happen and refer back to the documentation whenever communicating directly with the employee.
9. Make sure all employees are informed. Don’t single out an employee even if you suspect a problem. Instead, make sure all employees are aware of the company’s policy on substance abuse and testing as well as consequences for violations of that policy.
10. Enforce the policy. One of the strongest messages you can send is to enforce the Drug Free workplace policy consistently and fairly. It won’t take long before your business is known as a safe and drug free workplace.