Drug Screening

Here is a link to SAMHSA -Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locater

To search for the drug and alcoholism treatment program, the Locator needs a starting point. A starting point can be a city, street and/or zip code.

To find facilities nearest you enter your city, street or zip code.

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is the home of “Drug Free Workplace. The Agency overview is:

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s)vision as an agency of the Federal Government is “A Life in the Community for Everyone.” This vision is based on the
premise that people of all ages, with or at risk for mental or substance use disorders, should have the opportunity for a fulfilling life that includes a job/education, a home, and meaningful personal relationships with friends and family. SAMHSA works to achieve this vision through an action-oriented, measurable mission of “Building Resilienceand Facilitating Recovery.”

The Challenge

In 2005, over 22 million Americans, aged 12 or older, were classified with substance abuse or dependence; nearly 25 million adults, aged 18 or older, were living with a serious mental condition, according to SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The economic costs of undiagnosed and untreated mental and substance use disorders are staggering.

The human costs — measured in lost jobs, lost families and lost lives—are incalculable. Yet, mental and substance use disorders are treatable illnesses from which people can and do recover. The toll of substance abuse and mental illnesses can be dramatically reduced by prevention and early intervention with state-of-the-art, researchbased services and supports. SAMHSA is bringing this knowledge to communities across the Nation to ensure that people with or at risk for mental or substance use disorders have the opportunity for recovery and a fulfilling life in the community.

http://www.samhsa.gov/

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Good article from West Virginia

Workplace Vigilance

Posted Thursday, February 5, 2009 ; 06:00 AM |

More employers turn to drug testing to improve safety, productivity.

Story by Paul Darst
Email | Bio | Other Stories by Paul Darst

Urinating in a small cup is becoming part of life for more and more workers around the country and in West Virginia.

The number of companies and industries requiring drug screening for employees is on the rise these days despite some concerns about those tests being an invasion of privacy.

“It’s a lot more common than it used to be,” said William Webb, director of Oasis Behavioral Health Services LLC in Barboursville. “… Primarily, it’s about safety and productivity. When people are identified early enough, they can be rehabilitated and saved.”

The discussion about workplace drug testing has intensified recently as boards of education, including some in West Virginia, consider adopting or expanding the practice.

An estimated 14.8 million Americans are drug users, according to statistics from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA also estimates that 77 percent of those users are employed, meaning about 9.4 million U.S. workers are using illegal drugs.

Changing Population

Drug use in the United States and in West Virginia isn’t necessarily increasing, but the demographics of the drug-using population are changing, said Genise Lalos, director of addiction services at Prestera Center.

“There’s been a shift,” she said. “… Fifteen years ago, a typical client was a 45-year-old Caucasian male who had started drinking. They had some success in their lives. When they came out of (rehab), they had something to fall back on.”

Today, a typical client is a 24-year-old Caucasian male who is addicted to opiates or prescription medicine, Lalos said. He often lives with his parents and has no career.

“The treatment age is younger, and the drug of choice is different,” Lalos said.

And they aren’t just using illegal drugs, she said. An increasing number are abusing prescription drugs.

Some industries are being hit harder than others by higher rates of drug use by employees, according to SAMHSA. The agency’s August 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health report shows that workers in accommodations and food services had the highest rate of usage at 16.9 percent. The construction industry had the second highest rate at 13.7 percent; arts, entertainment and recreation was third at 11.6 percent.

Rates of illegal drug use for other industries include: retail trade, 9.4 percent; professional, scientific and technical services, 8 percent; mining, 7.3 percent; manufacturing, 6.5 percent; transportation and warehousing, 6.2 percent; health care and social assistance, 6.1 percent; and education, 4 percent.

That report also outlined heavy alcohol use by industry. The highest rates of alcohol use were: construction, 15.9 percent; arts, entertainment and recreation, 13.6 percent; and mining, 13.3 percent.

Rates for heavy alcohol use in other industries include: accommodations and food services, 12 percent; utilities, 10.1 percent; manufacturing, 9.5 percent; transportation and warehousing, 8.6 percent; professional, scientific and technical services, 7.1 percent; health care and social assistance, 4.3 percent; and education, 4 percent.

Cost to Business

The cost of drug tests varies depending upon the company hired to do the testing and the kind of test used. According to Web sites for some drug-testing companies, the cost for a standard five-panel test is about $50. Regardless of the price, in the end testing is a value for employers, said Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s worth the cost to employers,” he said.

The primary concern for employers in West Virginia is safety followed closely by productivity, Roberts said.

“Safety applies to any workplace,” he said. “We have more workplace fatalities in West Virginia that are highway related than anything else.”

And the loss in productivity related to drug use is a huge cost to U.S. businesses, Lalos said. The national average is $98.5 billion in productivity losses each year, she said.

Although drug testing costs employers money, Webb said they get a good return on their investment. The medical cost offset savings ratio now is $12 for every $1 invested, he said.

But it’s not just businesses that could pay the price for drug use on the job. Workers also suffer, said Steve White, director of Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation, an organization of construction trades labor unions in West Virginia. For them, the primary concern is workplace safety.

“It’s about safety,” he said. “Alcohol and illegal drug use in the workplace is very serious to us.”

Some Apprehension

Although drug use in the workplace seems to be on the mind of businesses today, some are wary of implementing testing, Lalos said.

“Companies are a little leery of employee drug screening,” she said. “You do see a lot of pre-employment screening, but a lot of them are unclear (about post-employment tests), so they err on the side of caution I think.”

That is why Roberts and the Chamber would like to see state laws clarified, he said. He favors passage of a drug-free workplace act, which would allow employers to adopt a wide range of policies, including education, employee assistance programs and drug testing.

Today, drug testing is common as part of the job interview process in some industries, Roberts said. It also happens often after on-the-job accidents or if an employer has a reasonable suspicion that a worker is under the influence of drugs at work.

Random drug testing is not as common in most industries, he said.

Unique Partnership

One industry that does routinely conduct random tests is construction. The Kanawha Valley Builders Association and Affiliated Construction Trades set up LEADS, which stands for Labor, Education and Development, said Jim Cerra, executive director of the KVBA.

“We started a screening and safety program to have a drug-free workplace,” he said. “It’s been very successful.”

The unions and contractors teamed up to start and operate the LEADS program, which involves not only random drug testing but also education and assistance programs, he said.

Under LEADS, employees who test positive have the opportunity to appeal the results, White said.

“It has pretty tough national standards,” he said. “We have a nine-panel test. The (U.S. Department of Transportation) uses a five-panel test.”

The more extensive nine-panel test includes testing for Oxycodone and other prescription drugs, which the DOT test would not catch, he said.

While the national average for drug abuse in the construction work force is about 14 percent, the Kanawha Valley Builders and ACT work force has a 2 percent rate, Cerra said.

The program has been successful because of the strong relationship between the Association and the unions, Cerra said.

ACT is so committed to workplace safety that during the 2008 Legislature, the organization lobbied for passage of a bill that would require drug testing for all state construction contracts, White said. That bill passed, but it did not include projects contracted by local governments.

ACT will lobby for that bill to be changed to include those entities during this year’s session, he said. To that end, the organization has gotten several counties in the state to sign on in favor of the bill. At the behest of ACT, the Kanawha County Commission adopted a measure in January that would require drug testing for all construction projects funded by the county.

Walking a Tightrope

White does acknowledge that drug testing presents some potential problems, however.

“The key issue is that it has to be safety sensitive,” he said. “… In construction, (drug testing) is becoming the norm.”

Drug testing in jobs that are not clearly safety sensitive could involve invasion of privacy issues, White said.

That is part of the reason why a lot of workplaces have taken another approach. Much of the work at Prestera and Oasis involves helping businesses teach their work forces about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse and provide counseling to those who are addicted.

“We don’t market it a whole lot,” Webb said. “It spreads by word of mouth from other companies. “

Typically, Prestera’s drug counselors first meet with the management of a company to establish goals for the program, Lalos said. Then, they will meet with the work force to talk about the dangers of addiction and resources that are available.

Companies need to be careful about how tough they want to be on those who test positive, she said.

“The person you catch might be your star employee,” Lalos said.

Therefore, having an automatic termination policy might not be the best route, she said. Offering rehabilitation counseling might be better in the long run both for the employee and the employer.

“It costs $6,000 to $10,000 to replace an employee,” Lalos said.

Copyright 2009 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.