2016 Election: Which states are voting on legalizing marijuana?

employers may lawfully terminate employees that fail drug tests due to marijuana usage, even if the drug is only used outside of working hours. And Alaska has also had a similar conversation: “Alcohol is legal, but I imagine most jobs, if you show up drunk, you’re getting fired or disciplined,” said Jason Brandeis of the University of…

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Positive drug tests in U.S. rise to highest level in ten years

released by Quest Diagnostics. The Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™ (DTI) examines illicit drug use by America’s workforce based on an analysis of de-identified results of more than 9.5 million urine, 900,000 oral fluid, and 200,000 hair laboratory-based tests performed nationally by the company for employers in 2015. [caption id="attachment_5569" align="alignleft" width="300"] FreeImages.com/Jan Friml[/caption] This…

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Brazil's drug testing lab reinstated two weeks before Olympic Games

“WADA is very pleased to announce that the Rio Laboratory’s accreditation has been reinstated,” said WADA director general Olivier Niggli. To win back its certification previously, having also lost it in 2013, the federal government poured 200 million Brazilian real (US $60 million) into the facility. The investment brought state-of-the-art drug testing instruments to the…

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Congress urged to lift food stamp drug testing ban

urged congressional lawmakers via a letter to support a proposal that would give states the right to drug-test food stamp recipients. Republican Rep. Robert Aderholt introduced a proposal in February that would scrap the drug-test restriction, aiming to reduce fraud and abuse within the food stamp system. The eleven Republican governors that sent the letter in…

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Can employers perform prescription drug tests?

study by NIDA shows that 52 million people over the age of 12 have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime, and over 75 percent of world’s prescription drugs are consumed in the US alone. [caption id="attachment_4970" align="alignleft" width="300"] Source: Filckr – USC2000[/caption] Why consider prescription drug tests? Such a huge consumption of prescription medicines,…

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IOC requests independent drug testing outside sports federations

the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) take over all sports drug testing as an independent agency, in an attempt to bring credibility to drug testing in athletics. It would be a huge undertaking for the WADA, but having an independent organization conduct drug-screening tests could improve fairness when it comes to Olympic drug testing. WADA does…

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Why employers should drug test job applicants

can cost a business a lot of money. As already mentioned, accidents in the workplace may result in the company being sued by employees, and worker’s compensation will need to be paid out for any injured employee. A loss in employee productivity due to injury or distraction on the job can cause losses in company…

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Should employers expand drug testing to prescription drugs? National Safety Council thinks so

called for employers to create workplace drug policies in order to address the increased use of prescription painkillers. The Council studied court cases and research that shows that, by addressing the painkiller problem in advance, employers can reduce worker’s compensation claims and costs, as well as costs associated with addiction and treatment. Many workers who…

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Oregon: drug-testing policies won’t change for state jobs

went into effect at the beginning of July, many state employers have begun releasing memos re-stating their drug policies and reminding employees that nothing is likely to change in those policies. Employers are still allowed to conduct drug tests, and ensure their employees show up for work sober, though some acknowledge that what an employee…

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