Quest Says Workplace Drug Use on the Rise

For much of the past decade, the U.S. job market has been tough. It was placed into a tailspin by the Great Recession, with 750,000 positions being lost monthly at the start of 2009.

But things began stabilizing in the past couple of years. The nationwide unemployment rate dropped from 8 percent at the start of 2013 to below 6 percent at the start of this year—the lowest it's been in seven years.

And Quest Diagnostics' annual Drug Testing Index (DTI) may reflect less anxiety over keeping a job or finding another. The New Jersey- based national laboratory performs more than 9 million workplace- related urine, oral fluid and hair-based tests every year and distills and publishes the general findings.

According to the DTI, the volume of American workers testing positive for the use of such drugs as marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine grew 9.3 percent between 2013 and 2014. However, the percentage of those testing positive for such drugs remains quite low, rising to 4.7 percent from 4.3 percent of the total population. And for the most part, only tiny percentages of workers tested positive for illegal drugs that are also considered highly dangerous.

Moreover, the positive test rate has plummeted since Quest began keeping records in the 1980s. In 1988, the overall positive test rate for urine-based testing was 13.6 percent; it was 3.9 percent in 2014. However, that was up from 3.7 percent in 2013, the first time the overall percentage has ever risen.

Nevertheless, there were some troubling trends. Heroin positives have doubled between 2011 and 2014, although they still only comprise about 0.03 percent of all testing. Quest officials have suggested that some doctors may have shifted their prescribing of prescription painkillers over to opiates that would lead to a positive reading, but they remain concerned.

"In the past, we have noted increases in prescription drug positivity rates, but now it seems illicit drug use may be on the rise, according to our data," Barry Sample, M.D., director of science and technology for Quest's employer solutions division, said in a statement. "These findings are especially concerning because they suggest that the recent focus on illicit marijuana use may be too narrow, and that other dangerous drugs are potentially making a comeback."

Quest officials did not respond to email and telephone requests seeking comment.

Additionally, marijuana positives increased 14.3 percent between 2013 and last year, rising to 2.4 percent from 2.1 percent. In workplaces where drug use could constitute a safety hazard, the number of positives grew by 6 percent, although the overall rates are still well under 1 percent of all employees tested. Marijuana was the biggest gainer among all the drugs being screened, but whether it remains illicit is up for debate.

Marijuana is currently legal for recreational use in Colorado and Washington, and for medical use in 23 states plus the District of Columbia. It will become legal for recreational use in Oregon this month and likely other states in the future, but there are few workplace protections in place for employees who use it for either purpose. The percentage of employees who tested positive for marijuana in Washington and Colorado is slightly higher than the nationwide average.

Meanwhile, cocaine use also rose significantly, up 9.1 percent between 2013 and 2014. However, that meant an overall bump of positive tests from 0.22 percent to 0.24 percent.

Methamphetamines, which have plagued many rural parts of America, also saw an uptick in positive tests, up 7.2 percent year-over-year. Overall, just over 1 percent of employees tested positive for methamphetamine use, up from 0.97 percent in 2013.

Takeaway: The improved economy and laxer laws may be driving up illicit drug use test results.