If you happened to miss out on the Monterey Board Meeting you truly did just that, missed out!

With a full agenda, the topics of discussion were very informative, the attendance impressive and the location very accommodating. It is exciting to see the positive direction both C-DATA and CDTOA has been going over the past few years, and this meeting clearly showed the overall effects. I hope even more members have the opportunity to attend the June Board Meeting in Rancho Mirage to experience for yourself the additional benefits the Board Meetings have to offer.

With our random selections in full swing I felt the topic of self admission would be beneficial to some employers should the situation ever actually arise.

Of course it is our recommendation that should a driver/employee self admit to having a problem with a controlled substance or alcohol or test positive on a test other than DOT there should be provisions within a Company’s Policy that require documentation of some type of substance abuse and/or alcohol counseling. From a liability stand point though you can never guarantee that person may not still have a problem or a relapse at least a responsible effort was made on the part of the employer to help rectify the problem.

Self Admission To Employer

§382.121- Employee admission of alcohol and controlled substances use.
(a) Employees who admit to alcohol misuse or controlled substances use are not subject to the referral, evaluation and treatment requirements of this part and part 40 of this title, provided that:
(a)(1) The admission is in accordance with a written employer- established voluntary self-identification program or policy that meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section;
(a)(2) The driver does not self-identify in order to avoid testing under the requirements of this part;
(a)(3) The driver makes the admission of alcohol misuse or controlled substances use prior to performing a safety sensitive function (i.e., prior to reporting for duty); and
(a)(4) The driver does not perform a safety sensitive function until the employer is satisfied that the employee has been evaluated and has successfully completed education or treatment requirements in accordance with the self-identification program guidelines.
(b) A qualified voluntary self-identification program or policy must contain the following elements:
(b)(1) It must prohibit the employer from taking adverse action against an employee making a voluntary admission of alcohol misuse or controlled substances use within the parameters of the program or policy and paragraph (a) of this section;
(b)(2) It must allow the employee sufficient opportunity to seek evaluation, education or treatment to establish control over the employee’s drug or alcohol problem;
(b)(3) It must permit the employee to return to safety sensitive duties only upon successful completion of an educational or treatment program, as determined by a drug and alcohol abuse evaluation expert, i.e., employee assistance professional, substance abuse professional, or qualified drug and alcohol counselor;
(b)(4) It must ensure that:
(b)(4)(i) Prior to the employee participating in a safety sensitive function, the employee shall undergo a return to duty test with a result indicating an alcohol concentration of less than 0.02; and/or
(b)(4)(ii) Prior to the employee participating in a safety sensitive function, the employee shall undergo a return to duty controlled substance test with a verified negative test result for controlled substances use; and
(b)(5) It may incorporate employee monitoring and include non-DOT follow-up testing.
[66 FR 43105, Aug. 17, 2001]

HBO Film Documentary Spotlights
American Addiction and Recovery

One in four Americans has a family member who is struggling with addiction, which affects 22.2 million people today. The problem of addition manifests itself in employment settings with increased absenteeism and higher worker’ compensation costs. In order to increase understanding and awareness, HBO is launching the Addition Project, a 14-part documentary film series that provides guidance in navigating the often confusing world of addiction treatment and recovery. The film provides a depiction of the emotional, psychologist, social and political toll that addiction takes on the country, demonstrates that the disease is treatable, and shows that there are millions of Americans in long-term recovery. Topics covered include:

• Addition in the workplace
• The nature of addiction
• The protracted insurance battles waged by families, as well as the difficulty of finding and getting adequate treatment.

The documentary series also highlights medical advances in addiction treatment, demonstrating how current advances in brain imaging science make it possible to see inside the brain of an addicted person, pinpoint the parts of the brain affected by addiction, and see how the addict’s brain differs.
The project premiers of HBO on March 15th and is supported by a 30-city nationwide community outreach campaign funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and coordinated by JoinTogether.org. Faces and Voices of Recovery, and Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.