Putting the Sting in Drug Testing, Whatever That Means

Whitney Is Right

2006-07-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, Blog. I have neglected you this past week, callously ignoring your cries for attention, shrugging off your emails and intricately crafted macaroni necklaces (painted my favorite shade of apple green), the jewelry, the flowers and singing telegrams. We are like two ships, passing in the night. On different nights.

A customer called in today, demanding to dispute her hair drug test results. She'd tested positive for cocaine and had, on an earlier and separate occasion, also tested positive for cocaine. Aside from there being nothing to dispute, the lab also confirmed - when we called them later - that there was no mistake. There aren't any medications that will give a false positive for cocaine usage, and definitely not in the amounts she was testing at. In sum, she high. She ranted and raved for awhile, then eventually hung up. I wondered if she'd realized suddenly that, wait, she had been using cocaine! And I wondered if that moment of realization was just as jarring and slightly more horrifying as realizing that you are naked in public.

"Crack is whack." --Whitney Houston

I realize things like that all the time about myself. The other day, I found out that I am the president of Burundi. Before that, I found out that I was a unicorn. Now I'm a content writer/phone butler for TestCountry.com and I have two-and-a-half hours left at work.

Here are more sources on cocaine and cocaine addiction:
Focus Adolescent Services
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Cocaine-Effects.com
StreetDrugs.org
CocaineAddiction.com

Stress Balls & Chinese Molasses

2006-07-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

My supervisor, currently mumbling incomprehensibly and launching insults at our apathetic NetSuite program, has taken to cutting up foam stress balls and tossing the sad portions into my trash bin. I assume his reasons are stress-relieving in nature, or the ambushes that take place downstairs in the shipping department have strayed into genitally unsafe territory and he is now taking steps to preempt catastrophy. Which I guess is pretty heroic.

Tuesday now and my post-weekend listlessness demands that I find entertainment. In between answering emails and harassing coworkers with my newfound love of Fire Science, I sometimes go over our website to look for things to edit or write about. Through a concentrated effort of blind clicking and voodoo, TestCountry, a fancy teal and blue gem in the gaudy headdress of cyberspace, has given up to me an even fancier gem: the Drug Slang Search Feature. It promises at least five (FIVE!) whole minutes of distraction. Most inventive names so far include:

Chinese Molasses (opium)
Speed Boat (a marijuana, PCP, and cocaine cocktail)
Idiot Pills (barbiturates)
Georgia Home Boy (GHB)
Chicken Powder (amphetamines)
and
Chocolate Ecstasy (crack cocaine made brown by adding chocolate milk powder during production)

All of which, of course, are part of a complete breakfast.

Six Hours To Go

2006-07-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

According to the Blogger homepage, newly updated blogs as of 8:30am include [sic]:

NEWS FROM DA-HOOD
hermaphrodites
perfectionists
and
thai massage

For years, the greatest regret of my life is going to be not having updated sooner this morning, that I might have been among such noteworthy company. You cannot see me, but I am weeping. Weeping the hot, bitter tears of a fifteen pound chipmunk. Incidentally, the greatest regret of my life after that disappointment has passed is going to be the crippling dehydration from having wept so much.

Another question from our general drug testing inbox today:

I have collected a sample from a boy who has been living at our home. I cut off, with his permission, one of his thin, twisted dreadlocks. Your instructions indicate unraveling the braid first. Can I send this sample and have you unravel it?

In a word, no. In another, NO. It's fortunate that this inquirer got the boy's permission first, so that they were sure to obtain a large enough sample of hair for testing. But the analysis itself is done in a lab facility, not here, and I don't know that lab techs get paid enough to unravel dreadlocks in addition to the actual drug sleuthing.

Weekend plans include entertaining my long-absent best friend from college, as she takes a break from Microbiology and the Midwest, to visit our homeland. I also managed to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest yesterday and am semi-unimpressed with how the movie ended as a vehicle to the third installment, rather than as a contained story all its own. I'm also disappointed that my supervisor has no idea who David Carradine is but remains untroubled by this fact as he sings the commercial jingle for Almond Joy. And I'm disappointed that Mr. T has not yet returned any of my love letters from 15 years ago (and last week). My life is full of hardship.

Water Intoxication: Not As Fun As It Sounds

2006-07-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Summer in San Diego dictates almost automatically that everyday until October will be hot and muggy. The weather forces man and beast to retreat indoors, deserting the roads and parks, making millionaires of the neighborhood ice cream men. Ants and spiders have begun to hang out at my kitchen sink, like some miniature urban watering hole. They wander aimlessly and I'm not sure what it is they're after. I tell them to go away, but I suspect they might not speak English. Or they're ignoring me, which is just rude.

My heatwave plan of retreat extends to closing the blinds, turning on all the electric fans, and sitting completely still while watching reruns of ER. In one episode, a young woman is diagnosed with what they called "water poisoning." She'd been at a rave, had ingested Ecstasy, and in the meantime had drunk so much water while jumping around to horrible techno music that she'd diluted her own bodily fluids (and the balance of electrolytes) to the point of imminent death.

I was horrified. I looked down at the bottle of water I was holding. It was my fourth one of the day. I didn't want to die convulsing, swollen brained, with my friends and family thinking that I recklessly overhydrate and enjoy techno.

Then I remembered: I don't take Ecstasy, which might cause the feeling of dehydration and the subsequent accidental overhydration. I wasn't dancing and sweating profusely, which causes loss of electrolytes from the body. And I doubted four bottles of water over the course of an entire day could be equated to more than a gallon at under an hour. I was safe. I imagined the spiders and ants at my sink were laughing at my brief paranoia, clicking and chirping in whatever freaky insect language they speak. I vowed to spray them with Raid sometime in the near future.

Water poisoning (or water intoxication) is actually quite rare and its occurence is disproportionate to the number of people who do use Ecstasy without ill effect. Those ill effects, however, when they do occur, can be devastating. And that's only in addition to the terrible taste in music.

For more information, please visit these links:
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Ecstasy.org
About.com: What Are The Effects of Ecstasy?

Parents, Guard Thy Tylenol

2006-07-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

According to DrugFree.org, a national study found that millions of teens (grades 7-12) think that using precription or over-the-counter medicine (including cough syrup) to get high is less dangerous than using illegal drugs. From the website:

Two in five teens (40 percent or 9.4 million) agree that Rx medicines, even if they are not prescribed by a doctor, are "much safer" to use than illegal drugs.
Nearly one in five (19 percent or 4.5 million) teens has tried prescription medication (pain relievers such as Vicodin and OxyContin; stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall) to get high.
Nearly one-third of teens (31 percent or 7.3 million) believe there’s "nothing wrong" with using Rx medicines without a prescription "once in a while."

A few thoughts spring to mind on this subject, but my first reaction was surprise. Did you know that Lays Potato Chips makes a Chile Limon flavor? Me neither! I found them at 7-Eleven this morning on the way to work. My second reaction was one of disappointment. The chips aren't as exciting as I'd hoped they'd be and teens, apparently, aren't as smart as I'd been giving them credit for all these years. It's not entirely their fault, since I imagine that when their parents talk to them about drugs (incidentally, kids who are educated about the risks of drug abuse at home are 50 percent less likely to use drugs), the focus tends to cleave pretty determindely to alcohol, nicotine, and other "hardcore" drugs out in the world. Maybe parents don't think that addressing the subject is necessary, for a number of reasons. They may not think that "medicine" will hold the same fascination for their teens, banking on the memory of their childhood reactions to cough syrup and pill swallowing. Or they, like their teens, are simply ignorant of the dangers that abusing prescription and OTC medications pose.

So, parents. Teens will find ways to abuse drugs if they want to, even going so far as to take them from your medicine cabinet. But you can do your part to prevent this by talking to your children about drugs and drug abuse, early and often, including the threat posed by readily available medications, which can be harmful and, yes, ultimately addictive. Unlike these stupid chips.

Hello, Vanity.

2006-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Turns out my boss really is reading this blog. "You should write more about yourself," he says, "so that the readers can get to know you better." Which would be a nice gesture, I suppose, but I wouldn't really know since I was raised by wolves.

I took these questions from a sample personality quiz I found online, the answers to which should tell you more than you care to know about me.

Q. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
A. I guess Sydney or Hong Kong. San Diego's nice, but there's not much left here for me to discover.

Q. What is your favorite dish?
A. Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup and Carne Asada Fries, a culinary mutant native to Southern California that is as delicious as it is horrifying.

Q. Do you speak any other languages?
A. Some English, less French. I understand Tagalog, as my parents are Filipino, but never learned to speak the language since they thought my sister and I might one day use it against them. They were probably right.

Q. What are you wearing right now?
A. That's kind of inappropriate, but okay. A dress made of address labels and empty drug test mailing boxes. I like to find ways to recycle because I love our planet dearly (and as more than just a friend), so I am continuously searching for ways to impress it with my creativity. Mostly because flexing and writing poetry didn't work.

Q. What is your favorite color?
A. Nevermind, I can't do this.

I am off work in 15 minutes, which is nice. And I've conned one of my friends into cooking dinner for the both of us tonight, which is nicer.

Clorox Doesn't Really Fix Everything

2006-07-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

I heard on a radio morning show once that there are people who love the smell of gasoline, rotting garbage, even carion. And most everyone's got that one uncle who enjoys the scent of his own farts. There's some scientific explanation for this, apparently, but let's just call it weird. Not that I'm judging. Me, I really like the smell of household cleaners. Not in the "I really like the smell of household cleaners because I am using them to get high" sort of way, but in a "this is the intoxicating aroma of a nearly germ-free bathroom" sort of way. The scent of bleach and amonia is in a small way also the scent of victory.

Yes, over bacteria, but I'm easy to please.

Cleaning products, I'm learning, also factor quite a bit into the questions I am asked here. A common - and disturbing - bit of lore is that drinking cleaning products, especially bleach, will aid one in "beating" a urine drug test. This, in addition to being absolutely dangerous, is also absolutely false. To illustrate, here is an email excerpt from one of our more knowledgeable customers:

It's amazing how many quick solutions there are. I even had one person say to add a couple drops of bleach to a glass of water. "It'll burn for about an hour, but you'll pass." You better believe I'll pass...on that idea, anyway. Can you imagine people actually doing that? Almost poisoning themselves for a chance at passing the test.

The lesson being: the human body is not a linoleum kitchen floor. It cannot be "cleansed" or wiped blank with disinfectants. Drug test adulteration strips can be used to detect whether a test has anything in it besides urine and/or drugs. Many test have built-in adulteration testing as well. In the end, drinking bleach may give you that antiseptic fresh breath you've always wanted, but the all stomach pain and vomiting might lessen its appeal. And it definitely won't help you pass a drug test.

A Flailing Introduction

2006-07-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

One of my duties here at TestCountry, in addition to phone handling the hard-of-hearing, hard-of-thinking, and basically psychotic minority of the drug test ordering multitudes, is answering some of the general questions that come to me via our website. I am asked, in all seriousness, what are the benefits of illegal drug use in general?

Well, I suppose in general, illegal drug use will make you forget how asinine a question this is. This is an exciting job, I tell you.

My boss came to my desk last week and dumped this project in my lap. "See if you can revive the TestCountry Blog," he said. "The guys who worked on it before made a mess of it. I want you to get it going again. You're our Content Writer for the site, and a beacon of hope and goodness in this world, so it should be a piece of cake."

And it is. A delicious, towering cake made of confusion and terror. I love the internet and I love blogs, almost as much as I love Chuck Norris and fish tacos. Almost as much as I love blogging about Chuck Norris and fish tacos. I wasn't so sure how much I would love blogging about drug testing kits. But since I’ve been given freeish rein here and vague details as to whether or not my boss will actually be reading this, I guess I can try to figure it out as I go along. So in the spirit of anonymous internet communication, please feel free to comment with any questions you may have. I will then do my best impersonation of someone semi-competent and answer as best I can. Thanks!

Foothills students may face drug tests

2006-04-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

Plans are under way to begin randomly drug-testing students at Catalina Foothills High School, a move triggered in part by a September heroin bust on campus.

If the school can garner grant money and approval from the Catalina Foothills School District Governing Board, voluntary, "suspicionless" drug- testing could begin as soon as next fall, along with mandatory testing of some kind for athletes.

The move is in the very early stages of development, but it apparently would make Catalina Foothills — with its high school at 4300 E. Sunrise Drive — the first Pima County school district to institute such a policy. Several Phoenix-area school districts have been testing students for years — one for more than a decade — and another began just in February.

For the most part, Catalina Foothills' proposed testing would be nonpunitive. Parents and students would need to sign off on entering a pool of students who would be picked at random for testing. The families of those chosen then would receive a voucher — paid for through the potential grant — to either go to a testing clinic or use an at-home test.

The only person at the school who would see the results would be a student's counselor, who then could intervene or provide help for the student. But students would not suffer any disciplinary action, teachers and administrators would not see the results, and findings would not go into the students' permanent files or be reported to law enforcement agencies.

"It gives them the impetus to keep going," Principal Wagner Van Vlack said. "It helps kids continue to say 'no.' "
Of course, some — if not many — students may opt out of participating. But Van Vlack said that alone may get families talking about drugs.

"That's an interesting conversation," he said.
The two-pronged policy would target athletes in particular. Officials are considering requiring student athletes to provide proof that they are drug-free before they can take part in athletics, including cheerleading.

Students who participate in those specific extracurricular activities also might be required to take random drug tests — or the random tests might be instituted in place of providing evidence upfront.

Student athletes who test positive would face disciplinary action in their extracurricular activities but not in the classroom.

Darla Greer said she would allow her two Catalina Foothills High School students to be picked for drug-testing. But, she said, in this age of high drug use among teens, random testing should be required of all students, not just athletes. To do otherwise, she said, would be discrimination.

"If they don't approve it (random drug-testing), they should prove why their kids shouldn't be part of it," said Greer, whose children are not playing sports now.
If the plan is enacted, she said, it would be great if other districts took the same initiative.

"This is a teenage-wide problem," she said. "It's not just a problem in our district."

Van Vlack said the policies developed out of a drug-prevention task force that was formed after three Catalina Foothills High School students were removed from class last September and arrested.

The students, all girls, were charged with possession of heroin in a drug-free school zone, a Class 4 felony.

"That generated a great alarm among school administrators, parents, students, the whole community," Van Vlack said.

The proposals are in the early stages of development and may not be fine-tuned until sometime this summer. One source for the grant may be the U.S. Department of Education. The district doesn't intend to use its own funds for the proposal.
Neighboring Amphitheater Public Schools considered testing students a few years ago, said Todd Jaeger, that district's attorney. But the plan died due to a lack of interest, he said. The only testing that is done now is on some students who have been expelled or suspended and are returning to school.

The issue of drug-testing in schools has been controversial at times. Even though opposition remains, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is legal for schools to mandate drug-testing for students who take part in extracurricular activities.
Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, isn't convinced, though.

"Families should not expect the government to be the parents of their kids," she said. "In general, the issue of drug-testing is a privacy violation."
Van Vlack hopes that at the least the suggested policy will prompt dialogue about using drugs and alcohol.

"It serves the community well," he said. "It's difficult to best educate students if they are experimenting with drugs or alcohol. It's part of creating a healthy student who makes sound decisions in school and out of school, and ultimately we want to prepare students on and off campus and for the future."

source:azstarnet.com

Related Links:
Drug tests at TestCountry.com - Home Test Kits - From drug tests to DNA test kits, affordable home tests Store
Saliva Drug Testing Kits
Drug Treatment Resources
Drug Addiction & Drug Test Kits
Google Drug Addiction & Home Test Kits Directory
Dmoz Drug Abuse Directory
Msn Substance Abuse Directory

County schools move closer to drug testing

2006-04-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

The DeKalb County School System has scheduled a series of public forums at various times and locations throughout the county, to receive comment about a proposed student drug testing program.

The forums will be May 1 at the Valley Head School auditorium, May 2 at the DeKalb County Facilities Center in Rainsville and May 8 at the Crossville School auditorium. The meetings are all scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The system’s policy subcommittee on student drug testing set the meeting dates Wednesday, during its first official meeting to discuss the proposed drug testing program, patterned after one recently adopted for use in the Fort Payne City School System.

Liz Wear, director of the Partnership for a Drug Free DeKalb, secured a $500,000 three-year grant to establish student drug testing in both the city and county school systems. The city will begin mandatory testing June 3. Partnership’s grant calls for testing students, in seventh through 12th grade, involved in competitive interscholastic extracurricular activities. The city board will test those students, along with any student who drives on campus.

The proposed drug testing policy sets graduated penalties for students who return positive drug tests.

The program, set up to be random, can legally test up to 49 percent of the student population, Wear said. She said, if that level of testing is continued after grant money runs out, it would cost the system about $30,000 per year.

However, Wear said lowering the percentage of students tested could reduce costs. She suggested charging students more to park on campus to raise additional funds for testing.

Superintendent Charles Warren said he feels confident the system could continue to fund the program, without passing costs onto students.

“I think the money is there for this,” he said.

The subcommittee included two male students from local high schools. Both said they feel the proposed drug-testing program is a good idea.

The subcommittee talked about the possibility of requiring teacher drug testing, which Wear pointed out could not be legally implemented under the grant.

Warren said that the Alabama Education Association does not support teacher testing and Wear said the Supreme Court has ruled that current teachers aren’t subject to forced testing on the basis that working in a classroom setting presents a safety issue.

Warren said the school board could, however, enact a policy that required all new teachers hired to be subject to drug testing, and said he would pursue implementing such a policy.

He also said that the system could move to a voluntary system that would allow teachers and support personnel to sign up for drug testing off their own accord.

Nick Hall, agriculture teacher at Sylvania School, and a member of the system’s subcommittee, joined with several others on the board in supporting the idea.

“I would volunteer for drug testing and I would be a little suspicious of anyone who didn’t, to be honest,” Hall said.

source:
Related Links:
Drug tests at TestCountry.com - Home Testing Kits - From drug tests to DNA test kits, affordable home tests Store
Saliva Drug Testing Kits
Drug Treatment Resources
Drug Addiction & Drug Test Kits
Google Drug Addiction & Home Test Kits Directory
Dmoz Drug Abuse Directory
Msn Substance Abuse Directory

County schools move closer to drug testing

2006-04-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

The DeKalb County School System has scheduled a series of public forums at various times and locations throughout the county, to receive comment about a proposed student drug testing program.

The forums will be May 1 at the Valley Head School auditorium, May 2 at the DeKalb County Facilities Center in Rainsville and May 8 at the Crossville School auditorium. The meetings are all scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The system’s policy subcommittee on student drug testing set the meeting dates Wednesday, during its first official meeting to discuss the proposed drug testing program, patterned after one recently adopted for use in the Fort Payne City School System.

Liz Wear, director of the Partnership for a Drug Free DeKalb, secured a $500,000 three-year grant to establish student drug testing in both the city and county school systems. The city will begin mandatory testing June 3. Partnership’s grant calls for testing students, in seventh through 12th grade, involved in competitive interscholastic extracurricular activities. The city board will test those students, along with any student who drives on campus.

The proposed drug testing policy sets graduated penalties for students who return positive drug tests.

The program, set up to be random, can legally test up to 49 percent of the student population, Wear said. She said, if that level of testing is continued after grant money runs out, it would cost the system about $30,000 per year.

However, Wear said lowering the percentage of students tested could reduce costs. She suggested charging students more to park on campus to raise additional funds for testing.

Superintendent Charles Warren said he feels confident the system could continue to fund the program, without passing costs onto students.

“I think the money is there for this,” he said.

The subcommittee included two male students from local high schools. Both said they feel the proposed drug-testing program is a good idea.

The subcommittee talked about the possibility of requiring teacher drug testing, which Wear pointed out could not be legally implemented under the grant.

Warren said that the Alabama Education Association does not support teacher testing and Wear said the Supreme Court has ruled that current teachers aren’t subject to forced testing on the basis that working in a classroom setting presents a safety issue.

Warren said the school board could, however, enact a policy that required all new teachers hired to be subject to drug testing, and said he would pursue implementing such a policy.

He also said that the system could move to a voluntary system that would allow teachers and support personnel to sign up for drug testing off their own accord.

Nick Hall, agriculture teacher at Sylvania School, and a member of the system’s subcommittee, joined with several others on the board in supporting the idea.

“I would volunteer for drug testing and I would be a little suspicious of anyone who didn’t, to be honest,” Hall said.

source: times-journal

Related Links:
Drug tests at TestCountry.com - Home Test Kits - From drug tests to DNA test kits, affordable home tests Store
Saliva Drug Testing Kits
Drug Treatment Resources
Drug Addiction & Drug Test Kits
Google Drug Addiction & Home Test Kits Directory
Dmoz Drug Abuse Directory
Msn Substance Abuse Directory

Students support drug testing

2006-04-20T04:34:00.000-07:00

Skeptical parents challenged a random drug testing proposal for Franklin Central High School at a forum Tuesday night, questioning whether it would violate student privacy.

Several also said the wrong students would be targeted. Starting next year, students who participate in volunteer activities would be eligible for the random saliva tests, which detect six substances.
“I don’t think random drug testing will make less drug and alcohol users,” said Brenda Logsdon, 40, who has a son in eighth grade. “I think it will make smarter drug users.”About 40 people, mostly parents, attended the forum in the auditorium. Some supported the idea, thanking Principal Kevin Koers for helping keep tabs on their children.Under the proposal, nearly one-fourth of Franklin Central’s 2,100 students would give saliva samples next year — in private, Koers said.

The students would seal the vials themselves before the samples are sent to a lab. Positive results would be retested for accuracy.The proposal fits Indiana Supreme Court guidelines that only students who participate in privileged activities can be placed in a random testing pool.John and Bonnie Hofer, parents of a sophomore, passed out fliers opposing the plan. Testing interferes with parents’ responsibilities and could drive students from activities, the flier said.

“I don’t know how I truly feel about drug testing,” said Rita Kinkoph, 46, the mother of a freshman. She asked Koers several questions about how it would work, how widespread drug use is and how students would know they are eligible.

Koers cited surveys of Marion County eighth-graders that showed wide marijuana and alcohol use. Also, 1,461 Marion County juveniles were arrested on drug-related charges in 2005.

Programs that urge students to resist peer pressure aren’t enough, Koers said, and the threat of a random test gives them another out. He stressed that students would not be turned over to police; instead, the policy would bar them from extracurricular activities or parking passes for 30 days and require counseling.

After 30 days, they would need to pass a second drug test.Midway through the forum, three students left. In the hallway, juniors Mike Ettner and Tyler Sellas and freshman Whitney Dishman said they support drug testing.

All would be eligible. They said the principal was right to be concerned about drug use, and testing would deter it. Besides, said Mike, 17, peer pressure isn’t to blame.

Tyler, 16, interrupted. “It’s not like they’re forcing you or putting a gun to your head.”
source: indystar

Related Links:
Drug tests at TestCountry.com - Home Test Kits - From drug tests to DNA test kits, affordable home tests Store
Saliva Drug Testing Kits
Drug Treatment Resources
Drug Addiction & Drug Test Kits
Google Drug Addiction & Home Test Kits Directory
Dmoz Drug Abuse Directory
Msn Substance Abuse Directory

Drug testing dissuades students from using drugs

2006-04-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

Robert Sharpe counsels against drug testing for students who participate in extracurricular activities.

Perhaps some pot users will use pot less and alcohol and harder drugs more if random drug-testing is instituted. This is but one possible effect, made more likely by marijuana's status as a gateway drug. Kids who regularly smoke pot are already likely to experiment with alcohol and harder drugs (and to use these with pot).

With testing, the kids who haven't started smoking are less likely to start, and the kids who are looking for a reason to quit have an additional incentive.

Most important, we send the message that pot smoking is not innocent fun and that we take seriously substance abuse of all sorts. In short, if random drug testing increases the likelihood of kids moving to harder drugs in order to avoid detection, it only increases the likelihood of those kids who are already so inclined, and it protects others.

Random drug testing has to be part of a broad community approach. We can do a better job of educating our children about the dangers of drugs and alcohol in this critical period of brain development during the adolescent years. We parents must talk to one another when we discover that our children and their friends are using. Random drug testing should be but an additional echo of the message that we will not let drugs and alcohol derail the lives of our children.

Source:thetimesonline.com

Related Links:
Drug test kits at TestCountry.com - Home Test Kits - From drug tests to DNA test kits, affordable home tests Store
Saliva Drug Testing Kits
Drug Treatment Resources
Drug Addiction & Drug Test Kits
Google Drug Addiction & Home Test Kits Directory
Dmoz Drug Abuse Directory
Msn Substance Abuse Directory

We Love Google

RANDOM drug testing could be introduced in schools

2006-04-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

RANDOM drug testing could be introduced in schools, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly suggested yesterday.

She told a teachers’ conference it was a “hugely effective” way to tackle abuse.
She was keeping an “open mind” after she saw the scheme at work in the Abbey School in Faversham, Kent.

The NASUWT annual conference in Birmingham heard “new challenges” to discipline were emerging all the time.

Mrs Kelly said: “I will work with the NASUWT and others in developing appropriate solutions.”
Results at Abbey School improved after testing was introduced last year.

Each week 20 pupils are checked for cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.

Mrs Kelly was laughed at when she told delegates she thought pupil behaviour was generally improving. A survey of 800 teachers found 71 per cent considered resigning because of poor discipline.

Source: mirror.co.uk

Related Links:
Drug Tests at TestCountry.com - Home Test Kits - From drug tests to DNA tests, affordable easy to use home tests Store
Saliva Drug Test Kits
Drug Abuse Treatment Resources
Drug Addiction & Random Drug Test Kits
Google Drug Addiction & Marijuana Home Test Kits Directory
Dmoz Substance Abuse Directory
Msn Drug Abuse Directory

We Love Google

Firms battle FAA over drug testing

2006-04-11T02:09:00.000-07:00

Approximately once a month, a portable drug- and alcohol-testing lab arrives at the 64,000-square-foot Kent facility that houses Pacific Propeller International (PPI).

Workplace Systems, an independent testing consortium that PPI pays a $1,000 annual fee plus $20 per test, selects a handful of employees at random to provide breath and urine samples. The lab screens the samples to ensure PPI's workers are clean and sober, per government mandate.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has required aircraft-repair shops to administer drug tests to employees who perform "safety-sensitive" work since 1990; it added alcohol tests in 1995.

PPI maintains and overhauls high-tech propellers that power both short-range commercial aircraft and military transports, so President Jeff Heikke accepts the tests as a necessary cost of doing business.

Though the expense is not onerous, Heikke said, the program requires extensive recordkeeping and is frequently audited.

"It's quite a bit of paperwork and dotting of i's," Heikke said. Now the FAA wants to extend its drug-testing program, and PPI is not pleased. The 60-year-old company is one of four plaintiffs suing the federal government to block a rule change that the aircraft-repair industry thinks will create "a drug- and alcohol-testing regime that is irrational, unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious."

An FAA regulation slated to take effect Monday would require that any subcontractors hired by repair stations start testing workers who handle "safety-sensitive" tasks. "The testing should follow the work," said Laura Brown, an FAA spokeswoman.

The agency put its motives more starkly in federal documents: "Only one link in the safety chain would have to fail for an accident to occur." Backing up its concerns, the FAA said around 18,000 maintenance workers tested positive for drugs in the first 15 years of the program. Roughly 540 other workers tested positive for alcohol from 1995 to 2004. PPI, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) and their supporters counter that testing subcontractors will add onerous costs and bureaucracy but do nothing to improve safety.

"It's a silly rule," Heikke said. "It's really affecting vendors that have no airworthiness content."
What's more, they say, the new rule could cause U.S. airlines to outsource more work to foreign repair stations, since FAA drug and alcohol rules do not apply to maintenance shops outside the U.S.

The FAA gave the industry a reprieve last week. Though the rule takes effect Monday, the agency extended the "implementation date" until Oct. 10 to give subcontractors more time to figure out what work qualifies as "safety-sensitive."

In the meantime, the federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., will review the suit filed by PPI, two other repair stations and ARSA seeking to have the new language thrown out altogether.

Boeing is a member of ARSA but is not taking part in the lawsuit. "We do sympathize with those businesses that may be impacted financially by this ruling," said Cindy Wall, a Boeing spokeswoman. The company hopes the FAA and ARSA can work out an agreement that supports airplane safety and minimizes costs, she said. Boeing operates four repair stations, including one at Boeing Field in Seattle.

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com

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Sports Drug Testing & Drug Abuse

2006-04-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

Sports Game Drug Testing

MELBOURNE'S Commonwealth Games will go down in history as one of the cleanest major competitions after the completion of drug testing last night.

The Herald Sun understands that of the 1100 tests carried out in the build-up, and during the Games, only three positive tests were returned.

No more positive tests have been returned, according to the Games federation's medical commission which finalised testing yesterday.

"We can confirm that all tests have now been carried out and results have shown three anti-doping violations," a Games federation spokesman said last night.

The three violations were returned from two Indian weightlifters with one of the lifters testing positive twice to anabolic steroids within days.

Edwin Raju and Tejinder Singh face lifetime bans from the sport while the entire Indian weightlifting federation has been suspended indefinitely. The lifters returned positive samples to stanozolol. (continues below...)

It's the same banned substance with which disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson returned a positive test at the Seoul Olympics almost two decades ago.

But there were questions raised last night whether the testing procedures and technology were keeping up with drug cheats in sport.

It's surprising only two athletes returned positive samples considering 1100 tests were carried out.

The Games federation says the drug testing process was the most robust program undertaken at a Commonwealth Games.

But the federation is certain to change aspects of the drug testing procedure because of the lengthy time it has taken for tests to be returned and made public.

It's likely an athlete who tests positive at future Games will be named following their A sample.

In Melbourne, the Games federation couldn't make any public statements on athletes who had tested positive until testing of the B sample was completed.

The federation was heavily criticised for lack of transparency and there were even claims of a cover-up because of the abnormally long process.

And there are pressures on Delhi's organising committee to get its drug testing procedures in order for the 2010 Games.

The Games federation is seriously concerned with the lack of drug testing resources in India and has called on Delhi organisers to build a drug laboratory before 2010.

Source: heraldsun.news.com.au

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Drug Abuse & Policemen Drug Testing Kits

2006-04-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

County Policemen Drug Testing

Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson and a team of deputies negotiating a new contract do not appear to be far apart on the issue of drug testing.

Both sides said last week they favor random testing for illegal drugs, including steroids, to demonstrate that Sangamon County deputies are drug free.

"This is an issue I feel is important," Williamson said. "We're not doing it because there is any problem ... I want people to know that the sheriff's office is clean."

Lt. Patrick Davlin, chairman of the deputies' negotiating team, expressed a similar view when interviewed by phone a few days before his retirement Friday.

"The union understands the importance of drug testing," Davlin said.

"We are proud to wear the brown (uniform), and don't want anybody reducing the respect it deserves by being on drugs of any type."

While the two sides appear to close on drug testing, other issues could be a different story. Contract talks between the deputies and county have been going on for about a year, and no agreement has been reached. If nothing changes, the two sides could be headed for arbitration in June.

"Negotiations have sort of stalled," said Justin Reichert, a lawyer representing the county. "The talks aren't contentious, the two sides just haven't agreed. We're not there yet, but there is still an opportunity to do that before arbitration."

The main outstanding issue is wages, but Reichert declined to elaborate while negotiations continue.(continues below...)

When it comes to drug testing, negotiators for the deputies appear to be open to tougher testing than the testing envisioned by the sheriff.

Williamson is not directly involved in the negotiations. He said he is willing to include himself in random drug testing.

Davlin said the county proposed that 25 percent of deputies be subject to random testing each year, while he suggested that 25 percent of the deputies should be subject to testing during each three-month period."We said 25 percent a quarter - that sounds good," Davlin said.

"As long as we are testing everybody for the whole gamut of drugs, illicit drugs including steroids. And that we test everyone, deputy through sheriff."

Under Davlin's suggestion, 25 percent of the deputies would be randomly tested four times a year. Theoretically, each deputy could be tested once a year. But since each batch of test subjects are chosen randomly, one person could be tested four times in a year, while another deputy would not be tested at all.

Williamson said he didn't plan on testing so many deputies each year and questioned the cost of such a plan. However, he said he had no immediate objections to Davlin's proposal.

The union also supported a drug testing section that is in the deputies' expired contract. That section allows the sheriff or someone designated by the sheriff to order testing of employees suspected of using drugs, Davlin said.

Davlin said the sheriff has never ordered anyone to undergo drug testing, and Williamson also said he does not remember ordering any tests.
The scheduling of deputies is another issue in the negotiations.

Currently, deputies work five days on and three days off. Williamson suggested that deputies could work five days on, three days off, and then work five days on and two days off. The next week, the cycle would begin again.

"By doing that, it would allow me to add about one additional deputy per shift without hiring anybody new," the sheriff said.

The union opposes the plan. Davlin said a similar plan tried with jail personnel resulted in higher overtime costs.

Deputies have been working under the terms of a contract that expired Nov. 30, 2004, while negotiations continue.

Source: SJ-R.com

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Higj School Drug Testing & Student Drug Abuse

2006-03-30T23:21:00.000-08:00

Drug Testing at schools is a normal thing now

Drug testing is now officially a reality for Fort Payne middle and high school students.

The Fort Payne Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to adopt a drug-testing program, aimed at middle and high school students who participate in competitive extracurricular activities. Board member Jimmy Durham did not attend Monday’s meeting but had earlier voiced support for the program.

The board voted to implement “phase one” of the program beginning April 3, which will allow any students to volunteer for drug testing. Those students would then be subject to random selection.

During the first phase, any student may volunteer to become part of the pool for random testing.

“Phase two” will begin June 5. At this time, students who are involved in competitive extracurricular activities or who choose to park vehicles on any of the Fort Payne school campuses will be subject to random testing.

The program is being implemented through a grant obtained through the Partnership for a Drug-Free DeKalb County.

Liz Wear, director of the partnership, said the grant application specified that random testing be limited to students participating in competitive extracurricular activities. Wear said city school board attorney Bob Jordan interpreted that to mean “interscholastic extracurricular activities,” or extracurricular activities that involve competition with other schools.

A number of groups therefore fall under the umbrella for random testing, including all sports teams, band members and students involved in such organizations as Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Future Farmers of America, high school chorus, scholar’s bowl team, math team, student council and French and Spanish clubs.

Some extracurricular activities fall outside the scope of testing, said Superintendent Jim Cunningham, because they involve only intrascholastic competition, such as Calendar Girl. He said that if, at any time in the future, such activities expand to include competition with other schools, the drug testing policy would then apply.

Also, Cunningham noted that all students who drive to school and park vehicles on campus are subject to random testing.

Partnership received a $500,000 grant last year to implement drug testing in both the city and county school systems. Wear said the DeKalb County Board of Education is expected to take up discussion about drug testing when it meets Thursday.

Source: Times-Journal - Fort Payne,AL,USA

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Coal Miners Drug Testing & Drug Testing Kits

2006-03-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

Drug Testing For Mine Workers

A bill that would require drug testing for coal miner workers get an incredibly approval in the Kentucky Senate on Wednesday.

The Senate made just a few changes to the version that passed the House previously. The measure returns to the House for what could be a final vote.

The measure is aimed at improving safety in Kentucky coal mines by not letting workers who abuse drugs to work underground workplaces.

The screenings would be required before miners are hired. Miners would then be randomly tested after they begin work. Coal miners who test positive for drugs would have their certification revoked.

Three years ago, marijuana was found at the scene of a blasting accident that killed one man and seriously injured another in a Floyd County underground mine. An employee told investigators he saw miners snorting crushed painkillers.

In a series of public meetings over the past year, state regulators heard from coal operators and miners who said drug abuse had become widespread and needed to be dealt with.

Source: Kentucky Post - Covington,KY,USA

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Drug Testing Kits & Drug Testing Companies

2006-03-24T00:02:00.000-08:00

Drug Testing & Drug Testing Kits Firms

Maryland buyout fund has bought the Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, which is a supplier of drug-testing services and kits to many places including prisons, rehabilitation centers and other markets.

Bethesda, Md.-based American Capital Strategies (Nasdaq: ACAS) paid $79.5 million for control of the Santa Rosa-based lab and affiliated companies, according to American Capital. The buyout firm has a host of regional offices, including one in San Francisco at Three Embarcadero Center.(continues below...)

Along with 12-year-old Redwood Toxicology, the deal included two subsidiaries, Redwood Biotech Inc. and PerMaxim LLC.

"Redwood is an excellent addition to American Capital's growing portfolio," Darin Winn, the acquiring company's regional managing director, said in a statement. Winn called Redwood a leading company in a growing niche market. American Capital has invested more than $8 billion in 200 companies over the past nine years, including $3.4 billion in the past 12 months.

American Capital Strategies now owns 67 percent of Redwood, and members of Redwood's management team, including CEO and founder Bob Mount, own the remaining 33 percent, officials said. The deal closed Feb. 27, but was announced this week.

Redwood Toxicology has 7,000 customers nationwide, such as prisons, jails, rehab centers, hospitals and doctors' offices. Its annual revenues top $30 million, making it one of the nation's largest drug-testing facilities.

Source: San Francisco Business Times - San Francisco,CA,USA

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High School Random Drug Testing & Drug Testing Kits

2006-03-21T23:35:00.000-08:00

Student Drug Testing begins nearly at every high school

Many students are used to get drug testing randomly at Meridian public schools.

Especially the students who takes part in sports, cheerleading and band will be tested randomly by the school board.

Students will be tested on a number of illegal drugs from cocaine to marijuana to anabolic steroids.(continues below...)

Meridian High School Principal R.D. Harris also says any student about whom there is a reasonable suspicion of drug use may be tested.

Students who test positive will face disciplinary action, up to being expelled from school.

Harris said he anticipates the program will actually begin next week and affect 10 to 15 percent of students each month.

Source: WTOK - Meridian,MS,USA

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Drug Addiction & Random Drug Testing in Schools

2006-03-16T23:34:00.000-08:00

Drug Testing in Schools

The Bush administration is pushing for random drug testing in schools. Thay think that it will keep students safe from drug abuse.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy held a meeting in Falls Church, Va., Wednesday to discuss this random drug testing idea. The meeting was one of four meetings of its kind held nationwide for educators and community leaders.

Officials said student drug abuse is a national public health problem and random drug testing is a legal and effective way to fight back.

"What we have to remember is that, students have rights. The question is whether or not those rights are protectable and that has to be balanced against the responsibility that schools have to establish and maintain a safe school environment," said drug testing proponent Bill Judge. "What people have to understand is that drug testing is a tool … to be used to identify children who need help." (continues below...)

The Bush administration said more than 400 schools nationwide have implemented federally funded random drug testing programs.

"It serves not only as a prevention method, but also as an intervention method.

And, I think that it gives students a way to say no," said high school senior Christine Bottles. "Not just those who are labeled as the druggies, but also those who might be in sports or other activities and might be highly esteemed students in their schools, it gives them a reason to say no as well."

Bottles is chair of a student task force on random drug testing in Williamsburg.
Some argue that random drug testing in schools is an invasion of privacy. They also said there is no proof the testing will effectively fight drug abuse and may even push students to use drugs that are less detectable by a drug test such as alcohol.

"They're promoted as non-punitive and most of them suspend students from extracurricular activities as punishment. And, it really is based on coercion and the threat of punishment," said Jennifer Kern of the Drug Policy Alliance.

The Bush administration is asking for $15 million for random drug testing in its next budget. Opponents say random testing is expensive and can lead to false positives and innocent students being punished.

Source: NBC 4.com - Washington,DC,USA

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School Drug Testing Kits & Student Drug Addiction

2006-03-13T23:35:00.000-08:00

High School Random Drug Testing & Drug Testing Kits

With no hesitation and a few opposition all five members of Pauls Valley’s school board voted this week to start drug testing all junior high and high school students taking part in extracurricular activities.

The move expected for weeks now means the former policy of only testing athletes will expand at the start of the 2006-2007 school year to include all students participating in the extra activities.

“We are simply going to expand our present drug testing policy,” Superintendent Bobby Russell said.“It will probably double the number of students presently being tested,” he said.

The policy being revised — one calling for the testing of athletes — was approved by the local school board back in 2001. At the time this was the one area where testing was allowed.

A short time later a U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door for local boards to include all students taking part in any extracurricular activity.

That’s exactly what the board here did during a regular meeting earlier this week.

“I’ve not had anybody contact me since the last meeting,” Russell said, referring to any public input since the topic returned to the forefront last month.

“It’s my recommendation we approve the new policy put together by the committee and presented to you at the last meeting,” he said to board members.

“All extracurricular students will be give a policy prior to them leaving this spring.”

The superintendent stresses the policy for students in grades 7-12 is not intended to police students but instead serve more as another tool for them to combat potential drug usage.

“The policy is really there to help the students,” Russell said.

“We’re providing another avenue for them to say no and stay off drugs.”

The expansion came after school officials decided it was time to take a look at revising the policy already in place.

A committee made up of seven members eventually recommended the policy include all extracurricular students starting in the seventh grade.

It will include such activities as band, chorus, academic teams, FFA, cheerleaders and pom squad.

As with the athletes, the $15 lab fee for any students being initially tested will be paid by the students. That test will have to come before a student participates in his or her activity.

After the initial testing scattered throughout the school year, there will be monthly random testing from among the group of students undergoing the first round of tests.

The cost for the random tests will be absorbed by the school district, which runs from $15 to $50 or more.

The random testing will be done by a laboratory independent of the school district.

Source: Pauls Valley Daily Democrat - Pauls Valley,OK,USA

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Drug Abuse & Urine Drug Testing Kits

2006-03-09T23:36:00.000-08:00

Urine Drug Testing Kits for Athletes

A German laboratory has developed a method to get athletes who switch or tamper with urine samples during drug tests.

And top doping institutions in that country says that the development is promising.

The system would end the need for athletes to be supervised when producing a specimen.

Here's how they say it works. A marker is put in a liquid given to athletes to drink about 30 minutes before a urine drug test.

Once the sample is analyzed, it shows if the marker is missing.

This marking system has been tested for five years at drug treatment centers and for the past year in German prisons, but Germany's anti-doping agency is ian favour of its needing "more evaluation" before employing the system.

Source: Today's THV - Little Rock,AR,USA

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Student Drug Abuse & Drug Testing Kits

2006-03-06T23:48:00.000-08:00

Student Drug Addiction & School Drug Testing

Boone Grove High School's educator and basketball coach Matt McKay, didn't want to get student drug testing for years because he worried it would defeat individuals' rights.

But now, with students across the county being arrested for drug use at an alarming rate, McKay has changed his ideae. Along with friend coach Clay Corman, McKay began researching random student drug testing at other schools in the hopes of creating a policy for Porter Township School Corp.

"I don't think it's so much a problem at our school, but it's certainly a problem in our society," he said. "It's just so widespread."

Although drug use is an issue countywide, few school corporations use drug tests. Portage Township Schools, the largest school corporation in the county and the district with the most drug-related student arrests, doesn't test students. Neither do Valparaiso, Union Township, Hebron.

In fact, if Porter Township Schools chooses to implement such a policy, the 1,600-student school corporation would be only the second in the county and the first one of its size to have a testing policy.

Duneland School Corp., the only corporation in the county with a policy, implemented random student drug testing in 2000 and then suspended it a year later because the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled against such a policy. The Indiana Supreme Court overruled that decision in 2002, opening the door for Duneland to reinstate the program. (continues below...)

They held off until the fall of 2004, when they began a reasonable-suspicion policy in place of a random one. The latter policy limits the tests to students who drive to school and those in co- and extracurricular activities. A reasonable-suspicion policy lets schools test whomever they suspect is using drugs, according to Chesterton High School Principal James Goetz.

So far this year, Chesterton school officials have tested between 10 and 15 students this year, Goetz said.

Superintendent Dirk Baer has noticed a change in the community response.

"It doesn't create the negative community influence because you're not arbitrarily pulling kids," Baer said, adding that he would recommend schools looking to start testing begin with a reasonable-suspicion policy.

If it was up to Sharon Cawood, coordinator of the Porter County Substance Abuse Council, all of the schools in the county would test in some capacity. Cawood is in favor of testing not only to determine which kids are using, but to prevent students from starting.

"The kids have an easy way to say no to drugs: 'My school tests'," she said. "It takes the pressure off.

"While it might be of help to the kids, drug testing can polarize the community. Duneland schools dealt with some heat during their decision making process. Therefore, Porter Township school officials plan to have a forum to gather input before bringing the issue to the school board.

"We don't want to ram this through," he said. "We want to make sure everyone has their say."

Source: Munster Times - Munster,IN,USA

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