Drug and Alcohol Testing


SAMHSA Releases App to Help in Treating Opioid Abusers

The new smartphone app is designed to provide essential resources and information to doctors interested in utilizing Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) therapies to treat patients with a prescription opioid abuse disorder.

Attorney General Eric Holder recommends that federal law enforcement personnel who may encounter people experiencing an opioid overdose be trained and equipped with naloxone.

SAMHSA Launching Mobile App for Treating Opioid Addiction

"There's nothing like MATx in the field today," said SAMHSA Principal Deputy Administrator Kana Enomoto. "It will be a significant step forward in improving timely access to medication-assisted treatment by enabling physicians and other health care practitioners to better provide effective, evidence-based, and in some cases, life-saving treatment to people with opioid use disorders."

Washington Governor Signs Order to Address Opioid Misuse

According to the governor's office, opioid overdose deaths are now the leading cause of accidental deaths in nearly every part of Washington state, surpassing motor vehicle deaths and firearm-related deaths, and 718 people died from opioid overdoses in Washington last year.

FMCSA Declares Trucking Company an Imminent Hazard to Public Safety

An investigation into an accident led to the decision.

NTSB Cites Fatigue, Methamphetamine Use in Chattanooga Crash

The board noted that Kentucky is one of only two U.S. jurisdictions that do not provide crash data in their three-year driver license records. Because of this, Cool Runnings Express did not have crash data for this truck driver; he had had four crashes in the previous three years, two of which were CMV crashes, NTSB noted.

Preferably, have an outsider perform the audit or someone who is somewhat familiar with your program and can ask questions that may cause you to have to think—why do we do it this way?

How to Maintain a Drug-Free Workplace and Ensure Audit Success

Our drug-free workplace program should also get a checkup every year. Laws and regulations may have changed, and the company may need to adjust its policies and procedures.

FDA Launches Competition to Help Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths

The contest will ideally stimulate development of an app to connect those experiencing an overdose with help.

National Heroin and Opioid Awareness Week Announced

President Obama issued a proclamation last Friday designating Sept. 18-24 as Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week.



Reasonable suspicion drug testing is a critical safety measure.

Maintaining Drug-Free Workplaces Where Marijuana is Legal

How much marijuana (or THC) should be allowable? This is an extremely difficult question and is asked of the drug testing industry regularly.

Nevada's Rx Abuse Prevention Summit Set for Aug. 31-Sept. 1

The meeting provides the opportunity for the first lady's Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force and subsequently the Multidisciplinary Prevention Advisory Committee to update the community on laws put into place as a result of the 78th Legislative Session and Nevada's Strategic Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan.

California Adopts Opioid Treatment Guidelines

The Department of Industry Relations' Office of Administrative Law approved the final version of the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule regulations that updates the Chronic Pain Medical Treatment Guidelines and adopts Opioids Treatment Guidelines.

The government says the illegal marijuana industry is estimated at $7 billion per year and costs Canadian governments $2.3 billion to enforce, and that Canada has one of the highest rates of marijuana use in the world among children and youth.

No Change in U.S. Stance on Marijuana

Two governors sought to remove marijuana from Schedule I and reschedule it as medical cannabis in Schedule II, asserting it has an accepted medical use in the United States, is safe for use under medical supervision, and has a relatively low potential for abuse, especially in comparison with other Schedule II drugs.

THC Found in Colorado Town's Water Supply

THC was found in the water supply in the town of Hugo.

Drug Overdose Deaths Soared in Pennsylvania in 2015

The state's drug overdose death rate was 26 per 100,000 people, up from 21 per 100,000 people the prior year, and heroin and/or at least one opioid were present in 81 percent of those who died overdoses in 2015.

JAMA Study Links Surgical Procedures to Post-Operative Chronic Opioid Use

The authors report that the baseline incidence of chronic opioid use among the nonsurgical patients was 0.136 percent and, except for cataract surgery, laparoscopic appendectomy, functional endoscopic sinus surgery, and transurethral prostate resection, all of the surgical procedures were associated with an increased risk of chronic opioid use.

HHS Takes More Steps to Address Opioid Crisis

"The opioid epidemic is one of the most pressing public health issues in the United States. More Americans now die from drug overdoses than car crashes, and these overdoses have hit families from every walk of life and across our entire nation," said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. "At HHS, we are helping to lead the nationwide effort to address the opioid epidemic by taking a targeted approach focused on prevention, treatment, and intervention."

The government says the illegal marijuana industry is estimated at $7 billion per year and costs Canadian governments $2.3 billion to enforce, and that Canada has one of the highest rates of marijuana use in the world among children and youth.

Canada Moves Toward Marijuana Legalization

The public consultation continues through Aug. 29 and will seek input on all key areas of inquiry for the task force, including effective prevention and harm reduction, ensuring safe and responsible production, and enforcing public safety.

Testing Rules to Cover Rail Maintenance of Way Workers

"These new rules add another layer of protection for workers who work along and near railroad tracks and will help us reduce preventable worker injuries and fatalities," said FRA Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg.

Westward, Ho: Safety 2017 Set for Denver

One of the safety industry's best annual events again visits the Mile High City next year. (ASSE's Safety 2012 conference also was in Denver.)

NSC Says 28 States Fail to Protect Residents from Opioid Crisis

A new report says only four states are making notable progress.

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