Posts Tagged ‘Drugs And Alcohol’

Economic Cut Backs Affecting Drug Testing


In the past, schools have been pushing to increase alcohol detection drug service testing and urine alcohol testing for students especially in athletics. It was becoming a more standard practice as school officials worked on ways in which they could decrease the amount of students on drugs and alcohol. However, now with an uncertain economy and schools facing inevitable budget cuts, drug testing is being put on the back burner.

Schools can’t be to blame for making the tough decisions regarding where to spend the money. When faced with keeping programs active or adding new drug service testing requirements, it is no question that they would rather keep students in activities. By making tough budget choices now and cutting back where they can, the schools are going to be much better off when the economy starts to perk up again.

Schools aren’t the only place affecting drug testing facilities. With companies cutting back on hiring, pre-employment screens are not being done. As most of us know, when you get an offer to start a new job it is usually contingent upon passing a background check and drug screen. However, when companies aren’t hiring, drug testing and background checks are not being done on a regular basis. Those companies that exclusively offer these types of services could be facing some financial difficulties until companies begin hiring again.

Other budget cuts might affect drug testing companies again as well if companies start to limit the number of random drug pools they demand or require for certain employees. Perhaps companies will start to do away with the pre-screening requirement all together as they work toward ways to slim costs. You might start to find that a common practice is hiring individuals without either a drug screen or a background check. While a lot of companies currently do this, we generally see some type of drug screen or background check requirement.

While we all see the major affects that the economy is having on us, we often don’t see the little ripples that occur when we cut back on spending. I’m sure we all know as least one person who has recently lost a job and is now on unemployment. However, did you ever consider what areas you are now no longer spending money in – maybe you aren’t going to your local coffee shop very often or perhaps you’ve stopped shopping in retail stores and are getting all your clothes and books second hand. All of these decisions are making a difference on the types of businesses that are currently thriving.

It is no secret that the economy isn’t going to turnaround over night and we all have to look at what we can do to consolidate costs. Perhaps cutting back on pre-employment screening in business and alcohol and drug testing in schools is going to make a big difference. Hopefully, for everything, it is the difference they are hoping for. What kind of impact will forgoing these types of screens have on our students and on our workforce? The only thing we know for sure is that it is going to continue to have a change on drug testing companies.



It’s No Crime Scene at Your Office- It’s Just Drug Follicle Hair Testing


If your boss has asked your office to give blood, urinalysis or breathalyzer test for random drug testing, it’s no wonder that one might feel violated on top of grossed out. Since alcohol detection drug testing often involves body fluids, you may wonder if there is a better way to test employees for drugs and alcohol that is less intrusive. It’s called drug follicle hair testing

It may seem rather strange to test one’s hair for drugs and alcohol when drugs and alcohol are ingested into the body- not coated on one’s hair, but what scientists have found is quite remarkable. Since your hair and nail cells grow from your body, it makes sense that whatever nutrients, vitamins and all the other items that are ingested into your body- in turn, make up the building blocks of your hair and nails. Unlike blood, breath and urine where one can test for drugs and alcohol from a short amount of time after ingestion, your scalp is like a diary- where a scientist can read every drug and alcohol entry. Or, just as importantly, the lack of entries.

What Is Drug Follicle Hair Testing?

The rate that alcohol leaves the body in hours and minutes makes it extremely difficult to judge how much a person has consumed and how long ago it was that the person consumed it. What else is difficult to uncover is the history someone has of alcohol abuse. With as much as an inch and a half of hair cut from the scalp of a person, a hair alcohol testing laboratory can find out what a person’s approximated consumption of alcohol has been up to a 30 day history and if the hair sample is longer, as much as a year of alcohol consumption can be tested. A series of assessments called FAEE, fatty acid ethyl esters and EtG alcohol testing are done to measure the amount of FAEE and EtG markers that are revealed in the tests. The more alcohol a person has consumed, the more markers will be present on a test.

A Non-Intrusive Test

When compared to the bodily fluid demands of previous testing, hair alcohol testing is fairly non-intrusive. The samples are taken behind closed doors by a professional nurse, hired by the company who comes to your home or business and collects the sample beneath the rest of your hair, or at least close to the scalp. It is then taken to the lab to be tested.

•    Less contamination and fraud

•    A witness can actually be there in the same room as the sample delivered

•    No appointment outside of work or school is necessary

Instead of your office resembling a CSI episode demanding body fluids several times a year- have your employees tested once in a blue moon. With hair alcohol testing, unless your employees or students wax every inch of hair off your body and shave your head before their test, every nutrient, vitamin, drug or glass of alcohol will soon be revealed.



Will Government Programs Require Drug Testing?


Urine alcohol testing is happening in schools. Drug follicle hair testing is happening in the workplace. Testing for both drugs and alcohol are becoming more and more commonplace in society with varying levels of severity. Now, officials in many states are lobbying to make drug testing a requirement before people can go on welfare or unemployment. In a time when most companies are trying to cut any and all costs possible, the government too is trying to find ways that they can make sure benefits are being used in an appropriate manner and are tax dollars are being spent wisely.

The argument for the new drug tests is that people need to spend their money wisely and they may need to be taught this by being unable to get handouts or help from the government. By performing drug tests before people can get these government assistance programs, they are hoping to stimulate health and more solid financial choices for people. The problem some say is that many people won’t ask for help and this will increase already desperate situations. At times, these people that are being denied may need the money the most.

One fact is that these programs are created for people who need help. However, these programs are also created to assist people in getting out of desperate or unfortunate situations. If people are squandering their health and money on illegal substances, then perhaps these aren’t the appropriate programs to get them help. The fact remains that many jobs require drug testing so why not impose it on these programs as well.

Right now we probably all know someone out of work or relying on government programs when they would otherwise not have asked for help. Would drug testing measures slow down an already slow process. In the state of Washington the wait time for issue resolutions is 6-8 weeks. That is a long time to wait for benefits resolution when unemployment money is paying for the mortgage and electricity. Drug testing may slow down these systems as the wait time for results may be significant with the volume of testing that would need to be done.

Lawmakers are trying to create a system to help people. However the balance comes by creating rules so that we aren’t simply enabling people to remain on welfare or unemployment without a true purpose. The unfortunate reality is that people will always abuse the system. Imposing tests like this on people might make them start to understand the true use of the system and control those people that are trying to abuse the system.

There is a struggle for balance with any government assistance program. Would drug testing solve all our problems? Probably not – but it might be a way to limit those that are abusing the program and using it for ways other than what they are intended. We have both drug and alcohol testing happening across society in schools and for employment. It should not surprise us that it would spread to areas in the government as well. With tax dollars funding these programs we deserve to make sure that they are being spent wisely and given to true people in need. This may be just one step on a journey to make programs more controlled. However, in the end, hopefully it will benefit those taking advantage of the programs and those whose taxes fund them.



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