Prescription drug abuse is rampant across many American cities. Every day, 44 people die from prescription opioid overdose. According to the Prescription Drug Abuse Subcommittee from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prescription drugs, which are typically opioid analgesics, like Vicodin® and Oxycontin®, are increasingly responsible for overdose deaths. Opioids were responsible for Read more »
Drug Testing is Essential for Manufacturing Jobs
Some employers are legally obligated to drug test prospective and current employees—businesses in transportation or federally regulated fields like nuclear energy, for example, as well as safety-related businesses and certain federal agencies. Employers in fields where drug testing isn’t required by law, on the other hand, find testing employees simply makes good business sense. That goes Read more »
10 Myths About People Who Take Painkillers
On one hand, painkillers have recently attracted a lot of negative attention, and for good reason. Did you know, for example, 80 percent of the painkillers consumed worldwide are consumed in the United States, despite the fact that Americans make up only 5 percent of the world’s population? Or that prescriptions for these drugs have Read more »
A Trip to the Lab Isn’t Required for Drug Testing
According to experts at a recent Atlanta Summit on Exploding Heroine Abuse and Overdose Deaths in Georgia, heroin abuse is poised to become the Peach State’s most critical public health issue. Opioid abuse is no longer limited to the mean streets, but has rapidly spread into the suburbs, where many of Atlanta’s employees make their homes. Read more »
Majority of Americans Want Congress Drug Tested
It may be hard to believe that elected officials have not undergone the level of scrutiny that would make drug abuse apparent, but being a member of Congress doesn’t grant superpowers. The fact is no one is immune to drug abuse and addiction, but while Congress has spent the last few years pushing for drug Read more »
Can Medical Marijuana Users Get Addicted?
Medical marijuana is now legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, with more likely to follow. There’s no need to confuse marijuana’s potential for addiction with advocacy claims of the medical applications. Marijuana is either addictive or it’s not. Research has proven that it is possible to become addicted and the purpose of use—recreational Read more »
How the VA is Turning Veterans into Drug Addicts
If, as William Tecumseh Sherman said, “War is hell,” hundreds of thousands of veterans are learning VA treatment for chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can lead to an entirely new kind of hell, namely, opiate addiction. The fact is, Veteran Administration doctors currently treating more than 650,000 veterans with highly addictive opioid painkillers Read more »
What’s the Best Way to Test for Marijuana?
Your company has evaluated the risks posed by employee drug use and decides that marijuana needs to be included in drug screening. What’s the best way to get results? The first step is reviewing what’s already in place. If you’re together a plan where none exists, the easiest way to move forward is to enlist the help of a Read more »