Category: Health News

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Random Drug Testing Program in Missouri Schools

Oct. 3 2016

Random Drug Testing Program in Missouri Schools

Belton School District is the latest district in Missouri to start randomly testing its students for drugs.  This policy was created by the district’s students who came up with the idea.

Under this policy, students with a permit to drive to school are now considered fair game to be randomly tested. Furthermore, any student in Grades 7-12 who is involved with an extracurricular activity would be required under this policy as well.

The school district provided the parents with letters discussing the policy during open enrollment.

Some parents were strongly on board with the decision, while others challenged the policy.

Many parents, interviewed were surprised that it was the district’s students that created and developed the idea.

Belton School District Superintendent Andy Underwood. Stated that “There was concern from students in meetings in regards to fellow students being addicted to drugs,”

This latest rollout will be in addition to 160 other school districts in Missouri.

The logistics for Belton County consist of 25 students in both middle and high schools that will be required to give a urine sample and be randomly tested each month.

If a student fails a test, they are immediately suspended from their activity, lose their parking pass and are offered counseling.  Also as a results of a failed test, the student will be automatically tested again the following month and if there are three positive drug tests, it would result in the student getting permanently suspended from the activity.


For information regarding the effects of drug abuse – Click Here
For  information on a drug free work place – Click Here
For  information on substance abuse programs – Click Here
For information on DOT Drug / Alcohol Testing requirements – Click Here
 

John Burgos, CPC
Business Development Manager
https://accrediteddrugtesting.net
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

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Two synthetic drugs pose threat to public health. What are they?

Sep 19 2016

Two synthetic drugs pose threat to public health. What are they?

Cannabinoids and Cathinones are the latest synthetic drugs to bring on warnings issued by the Federal Government. 

Cannabinoids

Cannabinoids is often referred to as synthetic marijuana, K2 or Spice and can be found in legal retail outlets sold under “herbal incense” or “potpourri”.

  • Synthetic cannabinoids, contain approximately 120 known chemical variants with 50 or so of these chemical either regulated by U.S. law, or that are illegal in the United States.
  • China produces the bulk of synthetic marijuana where the “recipe” is altered to circumvent U.S. Law.
  • Cannabinoids are typically sold in packets which carry one of more than 500 brand names commonly referred to as Spice, Ace of Spades, Demon, King John Pot Pourri, Mojo and Mr. Bad Guy.
  • These products are labeled “not for human consumption” therefore, they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Cannabinoids and other synthetic drugs can also be purchased via internet
  • click here. To view a detailed list of over 500 Cannabinoids.

What are the risks of cannabinoids?

Some side effects of synthetic cannabinoids consist of severe agitation, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations, elevated blood pressure, tremors, seizures, hallucinations and dilated pupils. In some cases, suicidal and other harmful thoughts and/or actions have also been reported.

Cathinones

Cathinones, a naturally occurring stimulant found in the leaves of khat (the leaves of an Arabian shrub, which are chewed (or drunk as an infusion) as a stimulant. Khat is used in combination with other chemicals to make a drug similar to amphetamines.

  • Synthetic cathinone products often consist of methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), mephedrone, and methylone.
  • Similar to cannabinoids, most cathinones are produced in China. They are referred to as “bath salts,” and distributed under trade names such as ‘Ivory Wave’, ‘White Lightning’ and ‘Vanilla Sky.’ They are also labeled as “not for human consumption” to avoid penalty under the Analogue Enforcement Act.
  • Generally, Bath Salts are snorted, but some smoke it, inject it or ingest it as a pill.

What’s the risk of cathinones?

• The risk in the synthetic cathinones come from a complete lack of knowledge as to what and how much of any substance is in the drug.  It is very easy for someone to overdose on a cathinone.

Similar to the adverse effects of cocaine, LSD, and methamphetamine, synthetic cathinone use is most commonly associated with an increased heart rate, blood pressure, chest pain, extreme paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, and violent behavior.

What is the government doing?

• The Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act, which is part of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act of 2012, placed 26 types of synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)  – meaning they are illegal to possess or distribute. The problem with legislating against synthetic drugs is that they are altered so quickly.


For information regarding the effects of drug abuse – Click Here
For  information on a drug free work place – Click Here
For  information on substance abuse programs – Click Here
For information on DOT Drug / Alcohol Testing requirements – Click Here
 

John Burgos, CPC
Business Development Manager
https://accrediteddrugtesting.net
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

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Brazil Olympic team’s number of drug-test samples questioned

Aug 10 2016

Olympic Drug Test Samples Questioned
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Brazil’s Olympic team gave about a third as many samples as normally expected in the crucial month before the games began, CNN can reveal — an “unacceptable practice” according to the world anti-doping watchdog.

The host nation has already been sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, over concerns its testing of its own athletes ahead of the Games was delayed, and perhaps compromised. Yet CNN has learned there may not actually be enough samples to test to give the team — the second largest at the games — a clean record for July. This is because Brazilian athletes gave a significantly reduced number of samples in the first three weeks of July.
The World Anti-Doping Agency said the gap in samples collected by Brazil’s anti-doping agency was “unacceptable practice … particularly at such a crucial time before the Olympic Games.” It added: “These numbers are not in line with an effective program.” The spokesman said it may have left a “big gap.”
A spokesman for the Brazilian Ministry of Sport, Paulo Rossi, told CNN the Brazilian team of 477 athletes gave a total of 110 samples in the first 24 days of July. He described the average amount they would be expected to give in that period “as I think about 300,” or possibly less.
The reduced number of samples is a serious issue for Brazil, the host nation of an Olympic Games swamped in the geopolitical and moral impact of doping. The Russian Paralympic team has been banned. The Russian Olympic team has faced calls for a ban, and, while nearly all its track and field athletes have been banned, a lengthy International Olympic Committee mechanism to vet their remaining team members led to the vast majority of them being allowed to compete.
The Brazilian Ministry of Sport said the “allegation is absurd and makes no sense.” They added the Brazilian National Anti-Doping Organistaion, NADO, “under the Ministry of Sport, follows international codes to the letter and is committed to consolidating anti-doping policy in Brazil.”
Brazil’s problems began with the nearly monthlong suspension of the only laboratory in the country accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency to carry out anti-doping tests, causing delays in the testing of samples the team did give. It was unclear why the laboratory was suspended. Yet the greatly reduced number of samples the team gave in July means there is now a hole in the samples that can be retrospectively tested for the month ahead of the Games, a period the doping watchdog deems “crucial.” The Brazilian laboratory has since had its accreditation by WADA restored and will process 6,000 samples from all countries competing during the Games.
A spokesman for WADA, Ben Nichols, told CNN in an email: “We wrote to the ministry pressing our concerns and demanding to know why testing had stopped. The response was not satisfactory, and the situation was unacceptable.” Nichols confirmed 110 samples had been collected for testing in the July 1-24 period.
However, Rossi said Brazil’s anti-doping agency was struggling to process samples because its laboratory had been suspended. He said WADA was aware of the issue, and blamed the problems on WADA suspending the laboratory. The Brazilian Ministry of Sport said in its statement that 2,227 tests had been done in Brazil between January 1 and June 22, when the laboratory was suspended.
WADA said the Brazilian anti-doping authority should have — as part of established practices in sport — sent all Brazil’s samples to another laboratory during the period in which the main laboratory in Brazil was suspended. The Brazilian Ministry of Sport said the partner laboratories their anti-doping agency could have used included one in Spain — which was also suspended by WADA — and laboratories in Portugal and Colombia, which Rossi said were unable to take on the task.
WADA spokesman Nichols said the agency had repeatedly told Brazilian officials the situation was unsatisfactory and notified Olympic officials in “the pre-Olympics task force with our concerns, and requested that there be increased testing on Brazilian athletes.”
The International Olympic Committee said, through spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau, that its task force was meant to assess which athletes might need extra scrutiny, but not carry out the tests itself, as that was the job of doping agencies. She did not comment on the reduced level of sampling.
 CNN News


For information regarding the effects of drug abuse – Click Here
For  information on a drug free work place – Click Here
For  information on substance abuse programs – Click Here
For information on DOT Drug / Alcohol Testing requirements – Click Here

Brandon Rains
Director Of Online Marketing
https://accrediteddrugtesting.net
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

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How Long Do Drugs Stay In Your System?

July 11 2016

How Long Do Drugs Stay In Your System?

 

Some open-minded, liberal experts would agree that drug use should not be a punishable offense, the fact is that if you happen to be an athlete, a DOT regulated employee, working for a company with a drug free workplace program or just the child of  concerned parents, you could be subjected to a drugs test. So How Long Do Drugs Stay In Your System?

Once drugs are absorbed into the bloodstream – which can occur via the lungs, the digestive tract, or even a syringe – the only way to get them out is by excretion. Depending on what you’ve taken, some may pass straight through you relatively quickly, coming out in your poop. Much of the rest will eventually be released in your urine and sweat. However, before this can happen, drugs have to be metabolized into water soluble molecules, or metabolites.

This process mostly occurs in the liver, which contains catalysts like cytochrome P450 enzymes that cause drugs to become oxidized. As a result, non-polar molecules – which have no overall charge and are therefore not soluble in water – become negative, much like a drug user on a comedown. Normally, these metabolites will then be ionized as well, ensuring that by the time the liver is through with them, they are well and truly ready to dissolve – just like the ego of someone on LSD.

By this stage, the acute effects of any drug will have worn off, and the soluble metabolites in a user’s system will dissolve into the water in their blood, before being filtered out by the kidneys and excreted as urine. This process can take a while, however, giving drug testers the chance to catch people with drug metabolites in their pee and blood.


For information regarding the effects of drug abuse – Click Here
For  information on a drug free work place – Click Here
For  information on substance abuse programs – Click Here
For information on DOT Drug / Alcohol Testing requirements – Click Here
Brandon Rains
Director Of Online Marketing
https://accrediteddrugtesting.net
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

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Death Tolls Rise On Anti-Diarrhea Drug

May 18 2016

Death Tolls Rise On Anti-Diarrhea Drug

Death Tolls Rise On Anti-Diarrhea Drug as some people are taking extremely large doses of the anti-diarrhea medication Imodium in an attempt to get high, or to self-treat an addiction to painkillers, in what experts call a dangerous but growing trend.

Although the drug is safe in doses used to treat diarrhea, in large doses it can cause serious side effects, including breathing and heart problems, and even death. A new report describes two cases of people who died after overdosing on Imodium, also called loperamide, which is sold over-the-counter.

Death Tolls Rise On Anti-Diarrhea Drug such as Loperamide that is a opioid drug, meaning it belongs to the same class of drugs as some prescription painkillers. Regular doses of the drug won’t cause a “high” because only a tiny amount gets into the blood stream. But at very large doses, the drug can get into the blood stream and brain, and cause effects similar to those of opioid painkillers, the researchers said.

The new report describes two cases, a 24-year-old man and a 39-year-old man, who took very large doses of loperamide in an attempt to treat their opioid addictions. When the 24-year-old man was found, his heart had stopped beating. The 39-year-old man reportedly gasped for air before collapsing, which suggest that he experienced a sudden irregular heartbeat, the researchers said.

Although both men received emergency medical services at their homes, they died before they got to the hospital, the report said.

“People looking for either self-treatment of withdrawal symptoms [for opioid addiction] or euphoria are overdosing on loperamide with sometimes deadly consequences,” study co-author William Eggleston, a clinical toxicologist at the Upstate New York Poison Center. “Our nation’s growing population of opioid-addicted patients is seeking alternative drug sources, with prescription opioid medication abuse being limited by new legislation and regulations.”

With drug and alcohol testing centers throughout the entire United States, Accredited Drug Testing Inc. is available to answer all of your drug and alcohol testing questions and needs. For more information contact:

Andrew Gormally
Marketing/Industry Relations Assistant
Andrew@accredtiteddrugtesting.com
http://accrediteddrugtesting.net/
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

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Synthetic Marijuana Blamed for Man’s Death

May 16, 2016

Synthetic Marijuana

Some 8,000 Spice poisonings were reported in the US last year, which the Guardian calls “one of the drug’s most damaging years since its introduction to the United States almost a decade ago.” In one suspected case, a Mississippi man died after taking a single toke.

Indeed, potency is hard to predict and “the risk of overdosing is high,” reports the Las Cruces Sun-News, which explains that because Spice is typically sold (at gas stations, for instance) as “herbal incense” that is labeled as not for consumption, it’s out of the purview of the FDA and USDA.

Spice is a mix of herbs (shredded plant material) and manmade chemicals with mind-altering effects. It is often called “synthetic marijuana” or “fake weed” because some of the chemicals in it are similar to ones in marijuana; but its effects are sometimes very different from marijuana, and frequently much stronger.

Of the almost 8,000 poisonings from synthetic cannabinoids reported last year, New York claimed 1,729, while Mississippi reported 1,362 with 17 suspected deaths. Overdose symptoms include kidney failure, stroke, irregular heartbeat, violent outbursts, and paranoia, and the Guardian notes that the screening limitations mean confirmed cases typically occur only when epidemiologists get involved.

Because the chemicals used in Spice have a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit, the Drug Enforcement Administration has made many of the active chemicals most frequently found in Spice illegal. However, the people who make these products try to avoid these laws by using different chemicals in their mixtures.

Spice is a new drug and research is only just beginning to measure how it affects the brain. What is known is that the chemicals found in Spice attach to the same nerve cell receptors as THC, the main mind-altering ingredient in marijuana. Some of the chemicals in Spice, however, attach to those receptors more strongly than THC, which could lead to a much stronger and more unpredictable effect.

With drug and alcohol testing centers throughout the entire United States, Accredited Drug Testing Inc. is available to answer all of your drug and alcohol testing questions and needs. For more information contact:

Andrew Gormally
Marketing/Industry Relations Assistant
Andrew@accredtiteddrugtesting.com
http://accrediteddrugtesting.net/
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

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Finding a Job is Harder for A Smoker

5/12/16

Finding a Job is Harder for A Smoker

A recent study suggests unemployed smokers have more difficulty finding a job, and tend to earn less money when they find one than their smoke-free counterparts.

Among unemployed people in the San Francisco Bay Area, nonsmokers were 30 percent more likely than smokers to have found a job a year after entering the study, researchers found.

“The health harms of smoking have been established for over 50 years, and now evidence is accumulating that smoking can hurt your success in the workforce and perhaps even lower your pay,” Judith Prochaska, of the Stanford Prevention Research Center in California, told Reuters Health in an email.

The new study involved 251 unemployed people recruited between 2013 and 2015, including 131 daily smokers and 120 nonsmokers.

Previous research found links between smoking and being unemployed. But those studies can’t say if smoking came before unemployment, or people picked up the habit after losing their jobs.

Of the 217 participants who reported back at one year, about 56 percent of nonsmokers had found a job, compared to about 27 percent of smokers.

After accounting for factors that may also influence employment, like housing, transportation and criminal history, there was still a 24 percent difference in employment after one year between smokers and nonsmokers. Furthermore, among those who found employment, smokers made about $5 less an hour than their nonsmoking counterparts.

The study did not address the reasons for the differences, said Prochaska. But, she added, “One thing we found that suggests an answer was that smokers in our sample tended to place a greater prioritization with regard to their discretionary spending on cigarettes than on aspects that would aid in their job-search, such as costs for transportation, mobile phone, new clothing, and grooming care.”

Prochaska said her team now has the evidence it needs to launch a randomized controlled trial to test if a quit smoking program can reduce the time to reemployment.

With drug and alcohol testing centers throughout the entire state of California, Accredited Drug Testing Inc. is available to answer all of your drug and alcohol testing questions and needs. For more information contact:

Andrew Gormally
Marketing/Industry Relations Assistant
Andrew@accredtiteddrugtesting.com
http://accrediteddrugtesting.net/
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

 

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Are Olympic Athletes Allowed To Smoke Weed? Drug Testing At Rio Will Not Be Strict.

Aug. 1 2016

Are Olympic Athletes Allowed To Smoke Weed?
(Photo: Sports Images for USA TODAY)

Marijuana use has been a dicey subject for Olympic athletes in the past. Back in 2009, Michael Phelps acknowledged a photo of him using a bong was real, and he was suspended from competition for three months. On top of that, he lost a lucrative sponsorship from Kellogg’s. Now, eight years after Phelps won big with eight gold medals in Beijing, he, along thousands more athletes, will head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the summer Olympic Games. Over the intervening years, marijuana has been decriminalized in jurisdictions around the world. But what about for Olympians? Are Olympic athletes allowed to smoke weed?

Since the 2014 Winter Olympics, athletes have not needed to worry about testing unless they are extreme users. Technically cannabis is included on the list of banned substances in competition, so, no, athletes cannot use it during the games. But before or after is just fine. In May 2013 the World Anti-Doping Agency raised the level of allowed marijuana in an athlete’s system 10 times the prior amount to 150 nanograms per milliliter. That’s makes it harder for someone who uses it outside of competitions like the Olympics to test positive.

Before the rule change, there was always the possibility that an athlete would test positive for the drug, even when they had only been using it recreationally before the competitive event. Four athletes tested positive for THC in 2012 when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency conducted tests before the London games. That was a very small percentage of athletes, but it led to at least one wrestler being kept from the team.

We are seeing so many changes in the way people view marijuana. Many sports teams across the US have ran into contradictions and issues where it may be legal in there home state however, it is not everywhere else. Accredited Drug Testing will work hard and continue to keep people in safety sensitive positions drug free. Drug Free Workplace Programs are a great idea to avoid liability and what is most important, not having innocent people hurt because of poor decision making from someone else.

See Full Article


For information regarding the effects of drug abuse – Click Here
For  information on a drug free work place – Click Here
For  information on substance abuse programs – Click Here
For information on DOT Drug / Alcohol Testing requirements – Click Here
 

Brandon Rains
Director Of Online Marketing
https://accrediteddrugtesting.net
(800) 221-4291
Accredited Drug Testing Inc
Health Screening USA Inc

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When it comes to drug testing, especially for employment purposes, we are constantly bombarded with detection periods for drug testing and how drugs come up positive. We are here to debunk any mystifying details about the entire process so the next time you are called for a test, you are prepared.

Positive vs. Negative Tests

Most people don’t tend to dive deep on what makes a drug test positive or negative, they usually go into the test knowing whether they have passed or not simply be evaluating their personal drug use. But what if you have a prescription for painkillers or even have a Medical Marijuana Card? Then things can get a bit complicated. So let’s look at the process step-by-step from the beginning.

When getting scheduled for a drug test it is important to know that you will need to have a phone number on file that you can be reached at for reasons later on. But first, you will be scheduled for a drug test through Accredited Drug Testing by visiting our website (the one you are currently on) or by calling our national scheduling office at 1-800-221-4291.

Once you receive your donor pass you will proceed to the testing location at your earlier convenience (with Accredited Drug Testing you can even proceed the same day!). Once there you will take the test required (in certain cases urine, oral, or in others hair) and your end of the process is done from here on out.

After you take your drug test, your “sample” is then sent to a laboratory for testing. It is important to note that you will only come up positive for drugs that are included for testing in the test you took. For example, if you were sent to take a 5 Panel Urine Drug Test which only covers:

-Amphetamines

-Cocaine

-Marijuana

-MDA

-Opiates

-Phencyclidine (PCP)

You wouldn’t test positive for Oxycodone or Barbituates because your test doesn’t cover those panels. Even if you were actively taking those drugs. So as an employer it is important to know what exactly you are looking for in a drug testing so you are ordering the correct one for future candidates or randomly screening your current employees.

The test is then sent to a Medical Review Officer for a confirmation test. This test confirms the drugs found above the minimum levels required in your system. There are different levels for every drug and these levels are measured in nanograms for milliliter for urine and oral tests. These are considered the “cutoff levels”. A drug will not be found positive unless it meets that minimum level to be found in your system.

Who decides the “Cutoff” levels?

Cutoff levels for federally regulated drug testing programs (Department of Transportation for example) are established by mandatory guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) rule 49 CFR Part 40 harmonizes with HHS and describes the required procedures for conducting drug and alcohol testing for the federally-regulated transportation industry. Many non-regulated employers mirror the cutoff levels established by the government.

For the latest and greatest in drug testing news, continue to check AccreditedDrugTesting.net for more!