USA Mobile Drug Testing Compliance Consultants applaud the recent approval by SAMHSA for oral fluid testing and expanded opiate testing.
On January 25, 2012 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. approved both of the Drug Testing Advisory Board (DTAB) July, 2011, recommendations:
(1) Based on review of the science, DTAB recommends that SAMHSA include oral fluid as an alternative specimen in the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs.
(2) DTAB recommends the inclusion of additional Schedule II prescription medications (e.g., oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone and hydromorphone) in the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs.
“It is important to note that these recommendations are not yet in effect for Federal workplace or Department of Transportation testing” stated Joe Strom, CEO of USA Mobile Drug Testing. “Administrator Hyde directed SAMHSA to implement the recommendations through revisions to the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs. This will take some time.”
USA Mobile Drug Testing officials were also pleased with the statement issued by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC), “the opportunity to address the illicit use and abuse of these additional Schedule II drugs in the transportation industries is an important way to limit their misuse in our communities and a great way to serve transportation safety, while getting those who need treatment into treatment. And please know that oral fluid testing will be a bonus to our regulated transportation industry program; and will certainly serve to assist the DOTs National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in its efforts, with others, to establish national per se laws for Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID).”
DOT is required by law to follow HHS procedures for the drugs for which they test and the specimens they test. Therefore, the DOT will continue to work with the DTAB, HHS/SAMHSA, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and others to bring these approved recommendations to realization in our regulations and throughout the transportation industries.
USA Mobile Drug Testing will notify clients at such time that these new drug testing regulations become a reality and are officially a part of the program. Please note again these approved recommendations are not yet in effect.
