The Department of Transportation’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulation – 49 CFR Part 40, at 40.151(e) – does not authorize the use of Schedule I drugs, including marijuana, for any reason. State initiatives have no bearing on the Department of Transportation’s regulated drug testing program.

When employers hire workers that are smokers, the insurance costs are higher.  At DATCS, we can test your prospective employees for NICOTINE.  A simple urine drug screen can tell you if you are hiring someone who uses tobacco in any form.  If you have a policy to hire only those who do not use tobacco products and the prospective new hire has told you they do not use, then a simple test will make a big difference in your insurance costs.  It is as simple as that.

There were 11,406 emergency room visits associated with synthetic marijuana in 2010—75 percent were among the ages of 12-29. Synthetic marijuana currently holds second place in teenage popularity behind marijuana. Researchers claim the allure is the ill-perceived safety and legality of synthetic marijuana as compared to other drugs, the National Institute on Drug Abuse said in 2013. Soon after the 2011 FDA ban of synthetic pot, a DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart told Gothamist that "young people are being harmed when they smoke these dangerous ‘fake pot’ products and wrongly equate the products’ ‘legal’ retail availability with being ‘safe.'" A Think Progress report explains that the use of synthetic marijuana decreased after 2011 in response to health officials warning consumers. Despite of the notice, the drug maintained its relevance amongst young adults, with one in 20 high school students using the drug in 2014, one in 30 during 2013. Males make up...

Health officials are brainstorming ideas of how to combat the nationwide outpouring of hospital visits for synthetic marijuana. During April alone, there were more than 1,000 illnesses from this substance, which is double the amount from January and March, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported. This year’s statistics have quadrupled in comparison to 2014. Recently, as hospital admissions have increased, Alabama, Mississippi and New York health departments have delivered warnings about the usage of synthetic marijuana. Arizona, Florida, New Jersey and Texas followed suit by reporting similar cases to the public. Mississippi health professionals informed their state about more than 400 hospital room visits during April. More than 120 emergency visits associated with synthetic marijuana took place between April 8 and April 15 in New York. Common effects of this drug are "psychotic episodes, seizures, severe anxiety, muscle spasms, and suicidal thoughts," according to Think Progress. Common names for...

If you own a business, you know how important it is for you and your employees to practice safe work habits and to maintain a safe work environment.  Substance abuse on the job can be a threat to both safety and productivity and as a business owner it is something you must pay attention to.  To help you test and monitor new and current employees you should consider working with a professional drug testing company with a on-staff Medical Review Officer (MRO).  An MRO Tyler TX is a licensed medical doctor with special training in substance abuse testing.  He or she is responsible for receiving and reviewing lab results that are generated by an employer’s drug testing program.  Why is this important? ▪  An MRO is impartial advocate for the accuracy and integrity of the drug-testing process with a knowledge of the protocol of drug testing including maintaining chain-of-custody documentation for...