14 AUGUST 2017 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: SAFETY A recent report by Quest Diagnostics, a Fortune 500 company providing clinical laboratory services, finds that the percentage of positive drug tests has increased for the most common illicit drugs across virtually all drug test specimen types and in all testing populations. Quest’s annual Drug Testing Index (DTI) shows that in 2016 the overall rate of positives was five percent higher than the previous year, and the “highest annual positivity rate since 2004.” Use of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine are all “up broadly,” while cocaine was up twelve percent in 2016, reaching its highest level in seven years. It is worth noting that, in post-accident urine drug tests, cocaine positives occurred at twice the rate of pre-employment urine drug tests both among the federally-mandated, safety-sensitive workforce as well as in the U.S. workforce in general. This suggests that, at least among some employees, once hired there is an increased willingness to gamble with drug use, detection, and the potential consequences. Currently 29 states plus the District of Columbia have laws legalizing some level of medical marijuana use, while eight of those states plus D.C. now have laws permitting the use of recreational marijuana. Colorado and Washington are states that allow both medical and recreational marijuana. According to Quest, the overall urine positivity rate for marijuana in those two states “outpaced the national average in 2016 for the first time since the recreational statutes took effect.” https://blog.employersolutions.com/wp-content/ Quest Report Indicates Increased Drug Use By Lee Seham, American Maritime Safety, Inc.