The number of illegal drug users on the job is increasing. And while marijuana continues to be the most commonly identified illegal drug in workplace tests, there's a rising incidence of cocaine and methamphetamine use as well.
The news comes from a study of workplace drug testing results by Quest Diagnostics. More than 10 million test results were analyzed. In general, Quest said, drug use on the job is increasing again after a period of stability or decline, depending upon the drug.
Quest said the study found that positive drug tests increased from 4.3 percent of tests in 2013 to 4.7 percent in 2014, thus making last year the second year that drug tests showed an increase in use of illegal substances.
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"American workers are increasingly testing positive for workforce drug use across almost all workforce categories and drug test specimen types. In the past, we have noted increases in prescription drug positivity rates, but now it seems illicit drug use may be on the rise, according to our data," said Dr. Barry Sample, director, science and technology, Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions. "These findings are especially concerning because they suggest that the recent focus on illicit marijuana use.
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Among the findings: Marijuana urine test positivity in the general U.S. workforce increased to 2.4 percent in 2014 from 2.1 percent in 2013;
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In Colorado and Washington, states that permit recreational marijuana use, the marijuana positivity rate was comparable to the national average;
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For the second straight year, positive test results for cocaine increased after a decade of decline. The percent of cocaine use as indicated by urine test results is small: 0.24 percent in 2014, up slightly from 2013;
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Amphetamines, and especially meth, showed up in 1.04 percent of urine tests in 2014, up from .97 percent;
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The incidence of workplace use of heroin, while small, also increased in 2014.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
