AccuDiagnostics

Posts Tagged ‘Drug Testing’

University of California

California State University, Fresno’s Association Board of Directors is inching toward implementing a new policy to conduct random drug testing for auxiliary services employees starting New Year’s Day.

In an e-mail interview with The Collegian, executive director of auxiliary services Debbie Adishian-Astone said the association’s human resource office presented the proposal to the board of directors at the Sept. 29 meeting as part of the update for the employee handbook.

Adishian-Astone said that the random drug testing policy would ensure the safety and security of our employees and the campus community which we serve.

The association manages the on-campus auxiliary services commercial operations, benefiting Fresno State students, faculty and staff. Operations include the Kennel Bookstore, Student Recreation Center, University Dining Services, University Courtyard and University Student Union.

Testing options would vary depending on different circumstances, Adishian-Astone said. Pre-employment drug testing, testing based on reasonable suspicion and testing based on a work-related injury, would be included in the association’s drug and alcohol policy and apply to all auxiliary services employees. Random drug testing would only apply to those employees working in safety-sensitive positions, Adishian-Astone said.

A safety-sensitive position is one that involves the operation of equipment, driving vehicles, handling food or any other type of situation that presents danger of bodily injury or life threatening danger to the employee or others, Adishian-Astone explained.

Alex Garcia, chair of the USU board of directors, is a student representative on the association board and said that a random drug testing policy could be beneficial.

Garcia, who had to take a random drug test for a restaurant job in high school, said he understands the importance of drug testing, especially in the food service industry.

“It is important because [dining services] provides food services to the students,” Garcia said. “Not only would the quality of food be decreased if someone were doing drugs, messing around on the job, but also they would put themselves in danger.”

Garcia agrees that only employees in safety-sensitive positions should be subject to the random testing.

“If [random drug testing] were for all employees, I almost see it as kind of a waste of money, because it does cost money to run those drug tests and have them analyzed,” Garcia said. “It may be a preventative tool, but not necessarily for the students who sit at a desk for five hours.”

Sophomore Deirdre Bayne said she isn’t concerned about drug testing when it comes to her job at the Student Recreation Center. “I don’t care,” she said. “I don’t do drugs.”

Bayne, however, said she can understand why the association would propose a drug testing policy for its employees.

“If you’re paying someone to work for you and they’re not having the right state of mind then they shouldn’t be working for you,” she said of workers intoxicated on the job. “You’re just wasting your money because they’re not doing their job right.”

As a Chick-fil-A employee, Melissa Orgon would be among those subject to random testing should the policy go through. She said it might affect some workers, but she’s not worried about it jeopardizing her own job.

“It doesn’t affect me,” Orgon said. “I don’t do drugs.”

The board will vote whether to approve the policy on Dec. 8. If the policy is approved, it will go into effect this January, Adishian-Astone said.

Thanks to Kristin Berquest@Collegian.com for the use of this article.

Signs Of Stress

Stress, a new study has said, can precipitate a low mood leading to relapse in cocaine seeking.

The research team from University of Washington (UW) has shown that stress evoked changes in circuits, which regulated serotonin in certain parts of the brain that precipitates a low mood and a relapse in cocaine-seeking.

“The impetus for this research was our interest in how stress alters the brain’s cell receptors and protein signals in ways that lead to mood changes, depression, anxiety, and drug seeking,” said Dr. Michael Bruchas, acting instructor of pharmacology at the University of Washington (UW).

“Stress appears to be a motivator for the relapse in drug seeking,” said researcher Dr. Benjamin Land, a former UW doctoral student now in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University.

“They feel crummy so they go where there might be something that will make them feel okay again,” Land added.

They head to a spot that had the drug available in the past, an action researchers call cocaine place preference.

It is believed that drug seeking is regulated by dopamine, a chemical nerve signal associated with motivating and rewarding behaviour.

Dopamine may still have a key role, the researchers noted, which is why they were surprised to find harmful effects of stress converging in a brain region- the dorsal raphe nucleus –where nerve cells that use serotonin, a chemical nerve signal that has been associated with wake and sleep cycles, mood, anger, status and aggression, are abundant.

These nerve cells also project to other structures found on either side of the brain – the nucleus accumbens – which are thought to play roles in feeding and drug addiction.

The researchers revealed that the dynorphin/kappa opioid system, found in certain brain cells, can be activated either through repeated stress or by giving a chemical that triggers a receptor on the cells. Activation of this system produces what is called conditioned place aversion in mice. They avoid smells, locations or tactile sensations similar to those present during a troubling experience.

Research suggests that this response is mediated by the stress-evoked release of dynorphins, the “feel bad” brain signals.

Scientists had previously proposed that an activated dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor system stopped the release of dopamine and thereby made the mice feel miserable enough to cause aversions.

When scientists inactivated the kappa opioid receptors involved in the serotonin system they were able to block both the aversive responses and the stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine-place preference.

The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Random Drug Tests

Random drug testing is one way to test employees and help keep the workplace drug free. Since employees will have no idea when or if they will be drug tested throughout the year, this will deter employees from using drugs. By randomly testing workers, they will not feel like they were singled out and it’s a fair way to do drug testing.

For businesses with only a couple workers, they can join a consortium, which is a partnership of companies to put their employees in a pool for drug testing. This will allow the businesses to participate in a random drug testing program and their employees will not know when they will be required to do a drug test. AccuDiagnostics provides consortium services. They will maintain the testing schedule, will conduct the random testing scheduling and perform the drug tests.

The frequency of random drug testing is set by the Department of Transportation (DOT) Agency. Requirements for testing could be 50% for drug testing and 10% for alcohol testing, which means a business with 100 employees 50 workers would need to be drug tested and 10 would have to be alcohol tested. Setting up a random testing pool, the employees tested will depend on their job function and not their job title. DOT requires all safety-sensitive workers to be tested. Those workers, who are non-DOT employees, need to test in a separate pool from DOT workers.

Some tips on conducting a successful random drug testing program. Schedule testing dates in a non-predictable pattern, this can be accomplished by spreading the testing dates throughout the year. The time of day and day of the week when random tests are scheduled should be different for each testing date. Random drug tests should be conducted anytime employees are working or performing a safety sensitive job. In order to keep the drug testing random, only a select number of people should have knowledge of those workers that have been selected. Privacy of those being tested should be provided by the employer. Remember, employers should document everything (numbers, names drawn, dates and times of notification, dates and times of collections, etc.) about the random testing process.

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