Quest Diagnostics publishes periodic reports it describes as “…[d] erived from the world’s largest database of clinical lab results…” with its Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™ (DTI) focusing specifically on trends in workforce drug use and the rate of positive drug lab test results among American workers for a range of drugs (illicit, legal, and prescription). The worker drug testing report results have been published each year by Quest Diagnostics (“Quest”) since 1988 online for free, as a public service.
From Quest’s Senior Director of Science and Technology, Barry Sample:
“Driven largely by surging rates of marijuana general U.S. workforce positives and steady rates of amphetamines positives, the rate of drug positivity remained stubbornly high despite seismic shifts to the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as we see upticks in hiring and many employees returning to the workplace, it is important that employers consider workforce drug testing as a way to keep the workplace, their customers and the community safe.”
Of particular concern to safety agencies and accident victims’ advocates is Quest’s confirmation that the unprecedented COVID-19 Pandemic has not decreased the number of workers using drugs while on the job. In fact, in some instances – specifically marijuana – drug use has risen sharply in the last testing period (January to December 2020).
Rising Trend in Positive Drug Test Results Among General Workforce
Released on May 26, 2021, Quest’s Drug Testing Index shows that in the general U.S. workforce:
- The number of positive drug test results increased 3.8 % in the past year (comparing 2020 to 2019); and
- The number of positive drug test results during the latest testing period was 2% higher than three years prior (comparing 2020 to 2016).
Among the workforce, specific industries reportedly saw significant increases in the number of workers testing positive for drug use. Among them, the Retail Trade Industry had the highest overall positivity rates for all drug categories across all five years of the analysis.
Accommodation and Food Services tied with Retail Trade for the highest number of positive drug test results in 2020. Of note was an increase of 96.9% in the use of marijuana over the past five years by workers in the Accommodations and Food Service industry.
Illinois and Indiana Testing Higher Than National Average
Looking to the particular states as compared to the national results, how did our part of the country fare in the Quest report?
- Illinois’ overall positivity rate (5.3) was higher than the national average (4.4); and
- Indiana’s overall drug positivity rate (4.7) was also higher than the national average (4.4).
Within each state, some areas exceeded the national average by even greater rates than the state’s overall positivity rate. For instance, as shown in the online Quest DTI Drug Map:
- Illinois’ zip codes 62000 – 62099 and 62800 – 62899 each had an overall positivity rate that exceeded 6.0 (highest rating); and
- Indiana’s zip codes 47100 – 47199 and 46600 – 46699 each had an overall positivity rate that exceeded 6.0 (highest rating).
Which Drugs Are Being Used the Most by Workers?
Of course, these test results overlap between prescription drugs as well as legal over-the-counter medications, and illegal drugs. The Quest Report drills down into specific areas of concern, insofar as particular drug categories:
1] Increase in the Worker Use of Ecstasy, Decrease in Use of Opiates and Heroin
In the general workforce, there was a decline in the use of cocaine and in both semi-synthetic opiates (hydrocodone/hydromorphone) and oxycodone opiates (oxycodone/oxymorphone). However, more workers were using ecstasy in the past year: positive test results for MDMA / MDA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine increased by 25%.
2] Cocaine Use in the Workforce
Cocaine is not as popular among American workers today as it has been in the past. In fact, positive test results for cocaine in the general workforce was at its lowest level since 2012. In the past year alone, positive test results for cocaine dropped 18.5%.
3] Skyrocketing Use of Marijuana Among the General Workforce
Of course, marijuana use is major concern for safety agencies and accident victim advocates, since more and more states are legalizing its use, both for medical and recreational use. For more, read:
- Marijuana Semi-Truck Crashes: Pot, Cannabis Products, and Commercial Truck Drivers
- Recreational Marijuana is Legal in Illinois: The Rising Danger of a Drugged Driving Crash
- Marijuana Accidents: Impaired Driving in Indiana and Illinois
- Commercial Truck Drivers Moving Loads Across the Country Given Notice by USDOT: Changing State Marijuana Laws Do Not Change Truck Driver Duty of Safety on US Roads
According to Quest, marijuana continues “double-digit year-over-year increases in the general U.S. workforce.…” How popular is marijuana use among the American workforce? The answer may depend upon which form of testing is referenced; the Quest report shows:
- marijuana positivity increased 16.1% in urine testing;
- marijuana positivity increased 35.2 % in oral fluid testing; and
- marijuana positivity increased 22.5% in hair testing.
In states where marijuana remains illegal (no medical or recreational marijuana statutes) the number of American workers testing positive for pot in drug test results increased 57.9%.
That is a significant jump in workers that may be impaired while at work through the ingestion of marijuana. However, the numbers rose even higher where laws have been passed to legalize the use of marijuana in some way.
Recreational Marijuana and Medical Marijuana States
As expected, workers are using marijuana a lot more in states that have legalized recreational marijuana use. The Quest Report shows that workers testing positive for marijuana “positively surged” in states with legal recreational use statutes, rising 118.2% from 2012-2020.
Medical marijuana statutes also precipitated an increase in the number of workers with positive test results for drug use. According to Quest, in states where recreational use is illegal but medical marijuana has been legalized, marijuana positivity jumped 68.4%.
Worker Drug Use and the Danger of Deadly Accidents on the Job
The use of drugs while at work increases the risk of mistake or error that can have serious or deadly consequences. The worker who chooses to work while taking prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, or illegal drugs, puts his or her own safety at risk as well as co-workers and third parties.
Truck drivers driving their rigs after taking drugs are risking a severe or fatal truck crash. Workers in construction, as well as those in farming or working in our steel mills, are also risking serious injuries to themselves and others by using drugs while on the job.
Employers who fail to properly hire, monitor, or supervise may fail in their legal duty of care by allowing an impaired worker to be on the job. Those providing legal drugs (prescription, OTC) who fail to give adequate instruction or improperly prescribe may also have legal culpability in these matters.
In the aftermath of a severe or fatal accident, the possibility that a worker on the job had chosen to use drugs before the incident occurred must be investigated. Drug testing after a work accident may be undertaken by the employer pursuant to state workers’ compensation laws. However, drug use investigation is also vital for others who may have been hurt or killed in the crash, such as occupants of the rig or passengers in other vehicles involved in the collision.
Claims based upon workers’ compensation, wrongful death, negligence, product liability, medical malpractice, and more, may be available to the accident victims and their loved ones. For more, read:
- Truck Driver Drug Use in Indiana and Illinois: High Risk of a Fatal Truck Crash Caused by Impaired Trucker
- Impaired School Bus Drivers: Alcohol, Drugs, and OTC Medications
- Drug Use Behind the Wheel: 25% Driving Under Influence of Pot or Other Drugs
- FDA Warns of Over-the-Counter (“OTC”) Medications and Drugged Driving Accidents
- Drugged Drivers Cause More Fatal Crashes in Indiana than Drunk Drivers: New Indiana University Study.
Increased popularity of marijuana use among the American workforce is a concern for those advocating for accident victims. However, the realities of more and more workers impaired on the job through the use of other drugs, both legal and illegal, as revealed by Quest Diagnostics, is also disturbing. Please be careful out there!
