Urine Testing not effective

FEWER PEOPLE USING DRUGS AT WORK

Anchorage Daily News November 30, 1993, p. A-5

By James Rubin The Associated Press

Washington -- Drug use at work is declining, but the reasons are
not yet clear, federal researchers said Monday.
There is not enough evidence to attribute the change to more drug
testing of workers, a shift in attitude toward drug use or other factors,
said Charles O'Brien, head of psychiatry at the Veterans Affairs Medical
Center and chairman of a committee of the National Research Council and
Institute of Medicine.

The deterrent effects of drug testing never have been clearly
demonstrated, the committee said. It called for more comprehensive studies
and better evaluation of programs aimed at creating a drug-free workplace.
"Clearly workers entering the work force in the 1990s are likely to
have substantially less experience with illicit drugs than did their
counterparts in the 1980s and the late 1970s," the committee said.

The committee said a 1990 survey indicates that abuse rates in the
workplace are now relatively low.
The survey found that about 7 percent of U.S. workers used an
illegal drug during the preceding month and about 6 percent abused alcohol.
A 1979 study showed that as many as 14 percent of the general
population had used one or more illegal drugs during the preceding month.

Businesses ought to do a better job determining what works in
checking drug abuse, and studies also should focus on whether occasional
drug use affects productivity, he said.
The committee also said that nearly $1.2 billion is spent annually
on urinalysis tests of workers. But there is not much scientific evidence
to show the tests are very good at detecting drug use or dependence.

The committee also found that on-the-job drug intervention programs
may have limited value, in part because they do not include systematic
follow-up. END



}}}}This report was relatively tame at the time. Nightly Business Report
(PBS) was amazed that so many employers had adopted urine-testing programs
with absolutely no cost-effect analysis. There was [is] no evidence that
urine testing is cost effective to a business. But then over 50% of
employers test because of Federal Mandates!


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