Less than six percent of employees screened for drugs during the first six months of 1997 tested positive, according to a bi-yearly report issued by SmithKline Beecham. Of those employees who tested positive, nearly 60 percent registered positive for marijuana — up from 52 percent in 1996.
The overall drug positivity rate has declined by 70 percent since the company began tracking the results of its workplace drug testing more than ten years ago. However, Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation, speculates that this dramatic drop does not necessarily indicate that drug use among employees has significantly declined. “As employers widen the pool of individuals subjected to drug screens from those primarily tested ‘for cause’ or ‘post-accident’ to virtually anyone employed or applying for a job, it is natural for the percentage of positive test results to decline,” St. Pierre said. He noted that the percentage of major U.S. firms that test for drugs rose from 21.5 percent in 1987 to 81 percent in 1996.
St. Pierre further speculated that many employees are now aware of techniques or products that enable them to beat most types of drug testing. “Employees now have access to a plethora of information explaining to them how to prepare for a drug screen,” St. Pierre added. “Many employees are now armed and ready to face a drug test.”
St. Pierre explained that marijuana metabolites are fat soluble, thereby lingering in the body longer than other drugs commonly screened for. “In addition to being the third most widely used drug in America, marijuana has a longer detection time in the body than other drugs. The overwhelming majority of positive drug tests are for marijuana only, and do not give an employer any indication whether an employee is impaired while at work.”
The NORML Foundation opposes suspicionless drug testing in the workplace.
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751.