Pre-employment drug testing through urine analysis is not the most effective way to test potential employees for illicit drug use. There are too many ways to alter a urine drug test and, with the exception of marijuana, urinalysis tests only show positive for drugs that have been used within two to three days of the test. Hair analysis is a far more effective way to screen for illegal drug use as it shows drug use and drug history for several months.
Carol Patten quotes a report that was just released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stating that while drug use is more prevalent among the unemployed, 70% of people ages 18-49 who reported current illicit drug use or heavy drinker were currently employed. This means that 7.6% of all full time workers reported current illicit drug use. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) defines illicit drug as having used an illegal drug or a legal drug in an illegal fashion within the past 30 days.
Employers understand this is costing them money. The bill for substance abuse problems includes much higher usage of medical benefits, increased sick time usage, absenteeism and lost production time. Because of this more and more corporations are requiring candidates to pass pre-employment drug tests upon acceptance of job offers.
There are different methods of drug testing; however, urinalysis is the most commonly used. The results of a urine test will show the presence or absence of drug metabolites in a person’s urine. Metabolites are drug residues that remain in the body for some time after the effects of a drug have worn off.
The U.S. Department of Labor lists the following drugs and estimates of the length of time that these drugs are detectable in urine:
• Amphetamines: 48 hours
• Barbiturates: 2-10 days
• Benzodiazepines: 2-3 weeks
• Cocaine: 2-10 days
• Heroin Metabolite: less than one day
• LSD: 8 hours
• Marijuana: 3-4 days for casual use; several months for chronic use
• Methadone: 2-3 days
• Methamphetamine: 2-3 days
• Phencyclidine (PCP): 1 week
There are several reasons why urinalysis is not the most effective and accurate pre- employment drug test. One reason is that as the number of companies requiring pre-employment drug testing has increased over the years, so have ways to adulterate a urinalysis test. Additionally, the usual process for requiring a pre-employment test is that when an offer of employment is extended the candidate is given several days to submit to a drug test.
Container cups for the samples also usually have a built-in thermometer that registers the temperature of the piss as soon as it enters the container. So while fake urine is easy enough to acquire, hiding and using the urine to successfully pass a drug test can prove to be more difficult.
The chapter, Selling in Minnesota, had some disturbing information about the low wage life. As I read, I learned that every place the author went to apply, such as a Wal-Mart and a Home Depot type place called Menards, required the applicant to pass a drug test. The author went out and had to buy detox for $30, but can be up to $60. Also, I learn that 81% of employers do drug test their future employees. I don’t like this statistic, in part because I tried getting a job at Marshall Field’s restaurant and they required me to pass a drug test. Luckily, another employer called me before my scheduled drug screening (which I had planned on passing by being really sneaky and using the urine of a friend of mine), so I took that job offer and everything worked out well. The reason I don’t agree with the drug testing required to access most entry-level jobs, is because the only drugs they actually test for is Marijuana. Cocaine and heroine leave the body within three days, and other drugs aren’t even tested for. So that leaves the most commonly used illicit drug, and one that has the least affect on the user, to be tested for.
Drug Testing has progressively become very popular in today's low wage jobs. Jobs like Wal-Mart, Sav-on, Block Buster and many burger establishments; where the starting salary is seven dollars and twenty cents an hour requires its applicants to be drug tested before they are hired. Drug testing is based on a blue collar, white collar division.
Protein in urine during pregnancy may or may not indicate a serious condition. A routine urine test must be done during prenatal visits to screen for protein and other substances associated with conditions that can affect mother and the baby.
The rates of drug use by race and gender are disproportionate to the rates of incarceration for non-violent drug crimes. There are numerous ways to measure rates of drug usage. A look at lifetime rates may be useful as it shows how much of the population has ever tried illicit d...
Dogs in Drug Detection. (2009). In P. Korsmeyer & H. R. Kranzler (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Addictive Behavior (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 26-28). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tel_s_tsla&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX2699700159&asid=f4e2876ec4248cc89deed7c186b1b455
While employment screening in the healthcare sector is decidedly standard, the law does often not require drug and alcohol testing. Substance abuse is one of the leading causes of disciplinary action against a nursing license in the U.S. Random drug screenings are used to detect the use of unapproved or illegal drugs for the purpose of upholding patient safety (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2006). The American Nurses Association (ANA) estimates that six to eight percent of nurses use alcohol or drugs to a degree that would impair professional judgment (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2011). Approximately one-third of the one percent of actively licensed nurses are disciplined each year for their substance misconduct (Kenward, 2008). Protecting patients from unsafe practices and personnel is the primary responsibility of each supervisory board of nursing. However, the fear of punishment from the board or termination keeps many nurses unwilling to come forward (Maher-Brisen 2007). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the viability of mandating random drug testing for nurses and other health professionals. The objective of this would be to address the rooted issues of substance abuse and decrease the risk of harm to patients under the healthcare provider’s care.
Robison, Jennifer. “Decades of Drug Use: Data from the '60s and'70s.” 2 July 2002. Gallup, Inc. 28 March 2011.
users are not easily detectable, nor is the drug just used in one area of
Criminals charged for homicide, assault, and theft, test positive for illegal drugs. In 2009, It was tested that approximately 10.5 million people were reported driving under the influence of illegal drugs and alcohol during the previous year. Premature birth, miscarriage, low birth weight, and a variety of behavioral and cognitive problems are all results of drug exposure during
It is also very hard to decide if the test is an invasion of employee privacy. “The ethical status of workplace drug testing can be expressed as a question of competing interests, between the employer’s right to use testing to reduce drug related harms and maximize profits, over against the employee’s right to privacy, particularly with regard to drug use which occurs outside the workplace.” (Cranford 2). The rights of the employee have to be considered. The Supreme Court case, Griswold vs. Connecticut, outlines the idea that every person is entitled to a privacy zone.
The objective of this lab is to determine the present of normal and abnormal constituents in the urine, also to examine the pH, specific gravity, and chemical constituents.
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.
The use of illegal drugs in the United States is considered by some to be the biggest problem in our society. Over 40% of high school seniors use some kind of illegal drug, and in a recent 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse showed that the three most common drugs are Marijuana used by 11,100,000 people, Cocaine used by 1,500,000 people, and inhalants that is used by 991,000 people nationwide.
Have you ever entered your school to see men in uniform processing drug tests to all students of your school, your friends, and even people you might know who do drugs? Have you ever thought about getting caught if you’ve had taken drugs or alcohol recently?