Hiding the signs of drug abuse

Hiding the signs of substance abuse

Here’s a fun little thought experiment…

Say you were in a room full of 100 people and half were under the influence of methamphetamine and the other half were not. If you were allowed a one-minute interaction with each person, what do you think the odds would be that you could successfully identify the 50 substance abusers? You’re probably thinking you have a pretty good success rate. Right?

Now take the same scenario except this time half the people could be abusing nearly any drug – cocaine, marijuana, opiates, PCP, alcohol, MDMA, K2 or other synthetic cannabanoids. Are you still as confident you could identify them?

What if you knew that nearly every one of the drug abusers has taken great effort to hide or mask the effects of their abuse. Are you a little less confident?

What if we said that all of them were long-time abusers; highly functional while under the influence. Confidence still dropping?

What if we said that many of the substance abusers took other drugs to mask the effects of the primary drug they are abusing? Maybe the meth users also took opiates or ingested THC to mask their hyperactivity? Confident dropping again?

When you consider all these additional variables together you end of with something more representative of what supervisors are dealing with in the real world. Substance abusers have a lot to lose and will spend vast quantities of time and effort finding ways to hide their abuse. They talk with friends. They share stories and ideas on anonymous discussion boards. They’ll mask odors with mints, mouthwash or fragrance. They’ll wear glasses or colored contacts to hide their pupils. They’ll feign illness. Anything and everything to hide their abuse. One popular drug discussion board on the web has nearly 400,000 views on various topics related to drug use and drug testing.

It’s critical then that supervisors have been well-trained to spot the common signs and symptoms of abuse. If they have not been well trained, it will be far too easy for them to second guess their instincts and take the path of least resistance which is to avoid confrontation. To help ensure a safe and healthy workplace we should be matching the efforts of the abusers. This might mean training your supervisors frequently on the signs and symptoms of abuse. Repetition increases retention. Advertisers understand this well. Web-based supervisor training programs are often available for 6-12 months so supervisors can re-access the training material as needed.

Food for thought:

60% of the worlds illegal drugs are consumed by Americans.

Nearly 75% of those users are employed (almost 13 million users).

More than 60% of people know someone who has gone to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

AtHandTraining.com provides online DOT and drug free workplace supervisor and employee drug awareness training that works on any browser or device.

Sources: http://drugabuse.com/library/workplace-drug-abuse/ | http://www.dol.gov/elaws/asp/drugfree/benefits.htm

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FAA Reasonable Suspicion Testing – How Many Supervisors?

How many supervisors have to be involved to make a reasonable suspicion test determination for FAA?

The answer depends on how many employees your company employs that perform safety-sensitive functions and whether or not you fall under 14CFR part 121 regulations. Buried within the 14 CFR part 120.109 “Types of drug testing required – Drug testing based on reasonable cause” you’ll find the following:

“At least two of the employee’s supervisors, one of whom is trained in detection of the symptoms of possible drug use, must substantiate and concur in the decision to test an employee who is reasonably suspected of drug use.”

(view the eCFR regulations for drug testing here)

There is an exception to the two-supervisor rule which is if the employer is not an air carrier operating under 14 CFR part 121 and has 50 or fewer employees, a single trained supervisor can make the determination.

So the answer can be either two…or one, depending on how many safety-sensitive employees are employed. Either way, the requirement is clear that a supervisor must be trained on “the symptoms of possible drug use” in order to make a reasonable suspicion drug test determination.

It would make sense then to ensure that any new supervisor, or employee promoted to a supervisor position are immediately enrolled into a 2-hour supervisor reasonable suspicion training course. DOT requirements for the FAA regulated industry also require “recurring” training on a 12-18 month cycle. At Hand Training’s online courses meet the DOT’s requirements and represent the quickest way to ensure supervisors meet their training requirements.

Access At Hand Training’s courses below:

Download the FAA reasonable suspicion check list and documentation form here.

NIDA releases video “Marijuana Effects on the Body”

The National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) released timely video narrated by Dr. Wilson M. Compton on the effects of marijuana use on the body. With all the confusion associated with the recent changes in state laws, it’s nice to get back to the basics. Dr. Compton brings up one very interesting point which is that a lot of the information we have today regarding marijuana use and its long-term effects on the body was based on older studies which utilized the less potent marijuana of old. Today’s marijuana can contain much higher concentration of THC. Are today’s policies and public attitudes based on outdated information?

This is the first in a series of videos focusing on marijuana distributed by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network. More videos in the series will be released in 2015. Additional videos can be found here: http://vimeo.com/attcnetwork/videos

NIDA marijuana effects on the body