NCJ Number
132364
Editor(s)
R L Hawks,
C N Chiang
Date Published
1986
Length
129 pages
Annotation
Growing concern over the use of illicit drugs in the workplace has led to an interest in urinalysis as a way of detecting and deterring drug use.
Abstract
Drug testing by urinalysis has been implemented for prospective and current industry employees, military personnel, parolees and bail seekers, workers in the transportation industry, and individuals such as athletes who serve as role models. Two factors have led to the widespread use of urinalysis for drug testing: technical developments in testing methods, and the growing demand for drug testing. Society is becoming more aware of the impact of drug use on public safety and of the financial impact of lost time and productivity on industry. The annual productivity loss for alcohol and drug abuse has been estimated at $100 billion. Drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace is amenable to carefully planned prevention programs. Pre-employment urine screening is common among Fortune 500 companies and in several Federal Government agencies. As a consequence of expanded drug screening programs, laboratories that were established to perform urinalysis associated with methadone treatment have had to increase their capacities. Until quality control programs for laboratories are mandated on a broad scale, however, employers who want to establish a drug screening program must rely on their own initiative to evaluate the reliability of testing laboratories so that no individual will be falsely accused of drug use and so that regular drug use by any employee will be detected. Papers in the monograph specifically cover the establishment of a urinalysis program, testing and quality control, urine specimen collection and handling, accuracy in urinalysis, the interpretation of results, and specific drug assay examples. References, tables and figures