Recent article in the Washington Post indicates a recent...

Recent article in the Washington Post indicates a recent significant change - the widespread acceptance of illicit drug-testing in the US workforce.

Implication: Oraline IV with FDA clearance is hitting the market at just the right time.


Drug testing gains acceptance
By Gregory Lopes
July 16, 2007

The nation's work force is coming around to accepting employer drug-testing policies, according to a new Department of Labor report being released today.

"There's a lot of good news here," said Bob Stephenson, director of the Division of Workplace Programs in the Labor Department, which sponsored the survey. "Workers, both young and old, have accepted substance abuse as a problem and also accepted the drug-testing polices of employers."

In the agency's survey, 52 million employees, or 46 percent, indicated they would be more likely to work for an employer who gives a drug test before hiring. An additional 56 million workers reported that pre-hire testing would not influence their decision to work for an employer.

"That is a big deal," Mr. Stephenson said. "It shocked me in a positive way that this is now accepted. It wasn't in the past."

The report found that 30 percent of the full-time workers surveyed said random drug testing took place in their current job.

Because the agency is using a different methodology for computing the survey results from past years, Labor Department officials said it is not feasible to compare the results of the survey with past results.

According to the results,16.4 million illicit drug users and about 15 million heavy alcohol users hold full-time jobs. Illicit drug use is defined in the survey as use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin or prescription drugs used non-medically. But the survey found that a much lower number, 2.6 million workers, have a drug problem that can affect productivity.

Substance abuse is higher among unemployed people, but because full-time workers make up about two-thirds of the population between 18 and 64 years old, totaling 115 million persons, most drug and alcohol users are employed full time.