Deny vs. Enable – Don’t Do Either!

I recently attended a Substance Abuse Program Administrators Association (SAPAA) conference, one of the key topics was the growing concern associated with the increase in overall methamphetamine usage. Statistics indicated a disturbing growth in the number of methamphetamine labs in rural unpopulated areas nationwide and the increased usage of illicit prescription pain killers in the school systems

Fact: It has been 20 years since the Partnership for a Drug-Free America first came out with their advertising campaign “This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs”.

Fact: An estimated $36 million dollars a year is donated to the foundation through ad campaigns, radio air time and television commercials. Advertising firms seek out the foundation to pitch their ads for the campaigns at no cost to the foundation.

Fact: The #1 reason that most teens do not use drugs is they do not want to disappoint their parents.

Know who your kids are hanging out with, where they are after school, keep open communication. Make them feel they can come to you with questions and concerns, and most important Listen and Don’t Over React.

Fact: Though parents today or more educated in drug usage, only 7% have talked to their kids about drugs versus 12% in 1999.

Many parents feel the kids are being educated in school so they don’t need to discuss it with them. The best deterrent is open communication; unfortunately most of the education the kids are getting on drug usage is of the wrong persuasion from their classmates, friends and peers.

I cannot put enough emphasis on the importance of talking to your kids about drugs. If more parents had been proactive with their kids at a young age society wouldn’t have near the adult substance abuse and alcoholism issues today. Check out informative real life stories at www.checkyourself.com

Don’t Be Fooled,
It Could Happen To You!

On many occasions we have experienced situations where a transportation company employer is the parent(s), relative, or a good friend of the driver. So when the driver tests positive for either drug(s) or alcohol, whether through confirmed detection, or “refusal to test” (the donor left the site before the testing was completed, cold specimen, refused to re-collect, adulterated, substituted, etc.) the employer is in complete denial – and that’s not a river in Egypt.

“There must be a mistake, this is my son, this is our family business so there is no way he would do this to his family,” or “I grew up with this guy, he has a wife and kids so I know he wouldn’t take drugs.” This is another popular denial statement, “He’s one of my best drivers, he shows up early and keeps the truck polished” or “She has been taking diet pills to lose weight, so this must have showed up as a false test.”

• Information and products on “How to Beat a Drug Test” have been available on the street and through magazines and even the internet for many years, long before the implantation of the mandated DOT FMCSA Parts 40 & 382 random drug and alcohol testing programs. There is an extensive underground market for drug testing adulterants and every employer should be aware of this when it comes to their substance abuse programs. This it explains why so many rules and regulations have been created to ward off the usage and detection of these types of products. Below is listed the number of visits to websites for product information on “beating a drug test”.
  
• September 2002 - 158,000
  
• October 2003 - 687,000
  
• August 2004 - 712,000
  
• March 2005 - 1,090,000

There was almost a 700% increase in the number of visits to these sites just over three years – this is not by coincidence.

Some of you may have heard of the Congressional hearings that were taking place in 2005, leading to federal legislation proposed in August 2005 that would make the production, distribution and sale of products for adulterating or substituting a drug test illegal. If passed, the legislation is primarily aimed at internet sales of these types of products and may extend to publications.

Specimen Validity Testing

Specimen validity testing is the evaluation of the specimen to determine if it is consistent with normal human urine. The purpose of validity testing is to determine whether certain adulterants (adding something to the urine specimen) or foreign substances were added to the urine, if the urine was diluted (having creatinine and specific gravity values lower than expected), if the specimen was substituted (inconsistent with human urine and some other liquid has been substituted as the specimen) or invalid results where the specimen does not meet any of the above three criteria. With the introduction of new drugs, both prescription legal or illegal and the adulterants available, one can only imagine the ongoing process the laboratories must endure to be able to test for these products and to keep costs inline for a competitive market.

Signs of Tampering
Question: What are some the things the collector is looking for and the steps taken when it is determined the specimen shows signs of tampering?

Answer: As the collector, you must inspect the specimen for unusual color, presence of foreign objects or material, or other signs of tampering (e.g., if you notice any unusual odor). Refer to DOT FMCSA CFR Part 40 §40.65 (7)(c) for further clarification.

1. If it is apparent from this inspection that the employee has tampered with the specimen (e.g., blue dye in the specimen, excessive foaming when shaken, smell of bleach), you must immediately conduct a new collection using direct observation procedures. Refer to DOT FMCSA CFR Part 40 §40.67 for further clarification.

2. In a case where a specimen is collected under direct observation because of showing signs of tampering, you must process both the original specimen and the specimen collected using direct observation and send the two sets of specimens to the laboratory. This is true even in a case in which the original specimen has insufficient volume but it shows signs of tampering. You must also, as soon as possible, inform the DER and collection site supervisor that a collection took place under direct observation and the reason for doing so.

3. In a situation where the employee refuses to provide a specimen under direct observation, you must discard any specimen the employee provided previously during the collection procedure. Then you must notify the DER as soon as practicable. Refer to DOT FMCSA CFR Part 40 §40.191 for further clarification.

Diluted
Question: What happens when an employer receives a report of a dilute specimen?

Answer: As the employer, if the MRO informs you that a positive drug test was dilute, you simply treat the test as a verified positive test. You must not direct the employee to take another test based on the fact that the specimen was dilute.

(b) If the MRO informs you that a negative drug test was dilute, you may, but are not required to, direct the employee to take another test immediately. Such recollections must not be collected under direct observation, unless there is another basis for use of direct observation. Refer to DOT FMCSA CFR Part 40 §40.67 (b)(c) for further clarification.

(c) You must treat all employees the same for this purpose. For example, you must not retest some employees and not others. You may, however, establish different policies for different types of tests (e.g., conduct retests in pre-employment test situations, but not in random test situations). You must inform your employees in advance of your decisions on these matters.

(d) If you direct the employee to take another test, you must ensure that the employee is given the minimum possible advance notice that he or she must go to the collection site.

(e) If you direct the employee to take another test, the result of the second test -- not that of the original test -- becomes the test of record, on which you rely for purposes of this part.

(f) If you require employees to take another test, and the second test is also negative and dilute, you are not permitted to make the employee take a third test because the second test was dilute.

(g) If you direct the employee to take another test and the employee declines to do so, the employee has “refused the test” for purpose of this part and DOT agency regulations. Refer to DOT FMCSA CFR Part 40 §40.197 for further clarification.

As always, remember our qualified C-DATA staff encourages and welcomes your inquires. We are here to help!

Respectfully,

Lonnie Johnson
AADT Operations Director