Drug Testing in the Workplace

By Ernest D. Lykissa Ph.D.

Anyone that takes the time to read more than a few lines of this article will encounter some good and some bad news. The good news is that in the last 10 years we all have learned a lot about abused drugs and how they affect the workplace. On the other hand, testing workers for drugs has become a huge, competitive business. Regulated urine drug testing is now a reliable and reasonably well-understood process by the testers. The bad news is that we have done a poor job in educating the work force how drugs are detected, how prescribed medications yield positive results, and furthermore, how long some of these drugs stay in your system.

 Scenario One

For example, if your spouse gives you a Tylenol pill for a back pain, that their doctor gave them for their shoulder pain, you may be in a lot more trouble than you bargained for. This pill (Tylenol 3) may have contained along with the 300 mg of Acetaminophen,  3 mg of Codeine which will in turn make you test positive for opiates on your next random test at work. Should you not be able to show them a prescription written out to your name, you could be fired for abuse of drugs. This scenario seems to be repeating itself all over the Houston workplace in the last several years. A lot of attorneys are making a good living at arguing these issues.

To make it worse, some drug testing firms make money by keeping tabs on all these types of occurrences in a database. They sell these databases to anyone that wants them.  If you go apply down the street to some other business your record (your spouse’s Tylenol pill incident) will follow you. All that trouble, just for taking a pain pill from your spouse’s prescription for a back pain!

One more thing you need to remember is that it may take up to two weeks. depending on how much water and other liquids you consume, to rid your system from that one pain pill. Another bad thing about this pain pill you took is that your body is changing it as time goes by from codeine to morphine. So depending when you get tested the result could come back as positive for morphine! Since the person that ordered the test on you knows about drugs about as much as you do or less, he may be thinking you’re a heroin abuser. Good luck in explaining that finding!

 Scenario Two

On the other hand, a casual weekend marijuana puff or two at a party, and you may think why not, no harm done; may end up costing you your job or career. The real problem with marijuana unlike other drugs, it stores in your fat and it takes a long time for your system to rid itself of it.

These are two small illustrations of how careful you have to be when it comes to taking any drugs, whether prescribed or not. You have a career to protect. If you are in doubt ask us at ExperTox and we can help you in evaluating your individual situation.

 Drug Testing Facts

The staff at ExperTox feel it’s important to inform the workers that taking oral adulterants or adding adulterations to their urine specimens does not go undetected.  The advanced technology used today in drug testing can assure positive detection of almost anything that a person has taken or added in their urine specimens.  Beware, many companies will not hire or accept anyone who has submitted an adulterated specimen. In some cases it is grounds for termination.

Hair testing, on the other hand, is a very specialized but controversial testing technique that is gaining acceptance in the industrial communities.  This testing technique, while more extensive, can test someone for drugs of abuse over a longer period of time. For example, it is accepted that there is about an inch of hair growth, in the area of the nape of the neck, per two months of life. For some people there’s a little more growth, some a little less. If an individual consumes drugs they will get deposited through the growing hair follicle in the hair shaft.  These drugs can be detected through hair testing procedure.  Hair samples unlike urine specimens are not easily adulterated. ExperTox can provide these specialized hair testing services for either an individual or company. 

It may be stated in conclusion that there is much confusion about drug testing and it’s effectiveness.  It is unfortunate that this knowledge is not being shared effectively, not with the medical community, not with the courts, not with the US workforce, and certainly not with the various drug testing policy makers. If we can do a better job of educating both workers and industry, then maybe we can improve the quality of workers and the whole program of drug testing in the workplace.