Drug Testing Positivity On The Rise Among American Workers
Quest Diagnostics released the results of more than 11 million de-identified urine, hair and oral fluid drug test results collected between January and December 2021. They found that “the overall positivity rate in the combined U.S. workforce, based on nearly nine million urine drug tests collected between January and December 2021, was up in 2021 to 4.6% compared to 4.4% in 2020 and up 31.4 percent from the all-time low of 3.5% just 10 years ago (2010-2012).” The positivity rate peaked in 1988 at 13.6%. Other key findings include:
Despite years of decline, positivity rates increased in several federally mandated, safety-sensitive workforce testing categories
Urine positivity rates for post-accident testing increased at a greater rate than pre-employment testing over five years, driven by higher positivity on post-accident tests for marijuana, cocaine, and semi-synthetic opiates
Retail Trade had highest positivity among key industries
Drug specific findings include:
* Positivity for marijuana continues upward climb in general U.S. workforce: 17 of 17 industries saw increases in the workforce positivity rate for marijuana for 2020-2021; 15 saw double digit increases, and six saw marijuana positivity rates double or more than double.
* Mixed picture for cocaine positivity in the general U.S. workforce
* Positivity for opiates and oxycodones in the general U.S. workforce decreased last year and over five years
* Positivity for 6-AM (heroin) in the general U.S. workforce decreased over five years
Specific data is available in the press release and interactive maps showing state and substate level positivity rates over time overall and for 8 substances/drug categories (6-AM (heroin metabolite), cocaine, marijuana, amphetamines, opiates, opiates (hydrocodone/hydromorphone), opiates (oxycodone/oxymorphone), and PCP)
Interactive Maps: Quest Diagnostics
Analysis: What Are the Gaps in Drug Testing?
Our workplace drug testing is quite antiquated. As an example, we test for PCP but we don't test for Fentanyl or Fentanyl analogs. Fentanyl use is at an all time high in the United States and PCP is rarely seen anymore. So why even test for it? It has been our experience that people using PCP are switching to other synthetic drugs, like TCP, that are easier to obtain through the internet. If workplaces actually tested for the drugs that were a problem, we would see even higher numbers.