Employee Drug Use Keeps Going Up

The results of 11 million workforce drug tests were sliced and diced a number of ways, but just about any way you cut it, the trend is more drug use. Among the findings in the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index (DTI) were that since 2011 amphetamine positive results increased by 44 percent, and marijuana positives were up 26 percent. Heroin positives were up even more during that same time period, at 146 percent. Surprisingly, given the large numbers of overdose cases being reported, the oxycodone positivity rate declined, a result that Quest says confirms research that shows opioid prescriptions have declined since 2012. Overall, the percentage of employees testing positive for drugs has increased steadily over the last three years to a 10-year high of 4 percent.