Middle and High School Drug Testing and Student Illicit Drug Use: A National Study 1998–2011

In the past decade, many employers have adopted drug-testing programs to reduce workplace injuries. However, little scientific evidence shows that drug use is a significant and substantial cause of total workplace injuries. The purpose of this study was to empirically assess the role of drugs and alcohol in causing workplace injuries. Questionnaires were received from 882 Ontario employees in a household survey. Results showed that many variables were significantly related to job injuries. The variables were ranked according to the relative importance of each variable's contribution to total job injuries. Alcohol problems, licit drug use, and illicit drug use ranked 7, 11, and 12 respectively among a group of 12 significant variables. In order to examine the likelihood that drug use was a cause of job injuries, the relationship between job injuries and alcohol problems, licit drug use, and illicit drug use was examined across categories of third variables. For age, the relationship between drug use and injuries remained strong for the youngest age group, but disappeared for the oldest age group. Logistic regression analysis confirmed the plausibility of noncausal explanations of job injuries for illicit drug use, but not for alcohol problems or licit drug use. Overall, the results indicated that illicit drug use does not appear to be a major cause of job injuries. The implications of these results for drug-testing programs are discussed.

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Illicit Drug Use in the Pain Patient Population Decreases with Continued Drug Testing

January 2018 - Pain Physician ◽

10.36076/ppj.2011/14/189 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 3;14 (2;3) ◽

pp. 189-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Amadeo Pesce

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Drug Testing ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Pain Patient ◽

Spearman Correlation ◽

Urine Drug Testing ◽

Urine Drug ◽

Pain Patients

Background: A major concern of physicians treating pain patients with chronic opioid therapy and similar drugs is determining whether the patients are also using illicit drugs. This is commonly determined by urine drug testing (UDT). However, there are few studies on whether or not monitoring patients by this technique decreases illicit drug use. Objective: To determine if the presence of illicit drugs decreases over a number of physician visits where UDT was performed. Method: The method involved a retrospective study of tests for the illicit drugs marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstacy (MDMA) phencyclidine (PCP) and the heroin metabolite, 6-acetylmorphine as confirmed by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A database of 150,000 patient visits was examined for the presence of any of these 6 drugs. Results: A total of 87,000 patients were initially tested. The number of patients who were repeatedly tested decreased over time. The percentage of patients positive for any of these illicit drugs decreased from 23% to 9% after 14 visits where UDT was performed. When graphed there was a trend to decreasing use. The Spearman correlation = -0.88, P < 0.0001. The major illicit drug was marijuana. When this was removed from the analysis, there was an even greater correlation with decreased illicit drug use. Spearman correlation = -0.92 (P < 0.0001) using a weighted correlation. Limitation: Patients continuing to use illicit drugs might be dismissed from practices thus biasing the study towards illicit drug avoidance. Conclusion: Continued UDT might decrease illicit drug use among pain patients. Key words: Pain patients, UDT, urine drug testing, LC-MS/MS, illicit drugs, decrease drug use

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High school seniors' illicit drug use down

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e382332004-025 ◽

1989 ◽

Author(s):

Susan Landers ◽

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Drug Use ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

High School Seniors ◽

Illicit Drug Use

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Longitudinal associations of cannabis and illicit drug use with depression, suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts among Nova Scotia high school students

Drug and Alcohol Dependence ◽

10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2012.09.009 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 129 (1-2) ◽

pp. 49-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Daniel Rasic ◽

Swarna Weerasinghe ◽

Mark Asbridge ◽

Donald B. Langille

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Nova Scotia ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Drug Use ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

School Students ◽

Suicidal Attempts ◽

Longitudinal Associations

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The impact of alcohol and illicit drugs on people with psychosis: The second Australian national survey of psychosis

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/0004867412443900 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 46 (9) ◽

pp. 864-878 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Elizabeth Moore ◽

Serafino G Mancuso ◽

Tim Slade ◽

Cherrie Galletly ◽

David J Castle

Keyword(s):

Substance Abuse ◽

Drug Use ◽

Alcohol Abuse ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Integrated Treatment ◽

National Study ◽

Cannabis Dependence ◽

Cannabis Abuse ◽

The Impact

Objective: To provide the most up-to-date prevalence estimates of alcohol and illicit drug use among individuals with psychosis in Australia, and explore correlates associated with a lifetime diagnosis of both alcohol abuse/dependence and cannabis abuse/dependence. Method: This paper uses data from the Survey of High Impact Psychosis (SHIP), conducted as a follow-up to the first Australian National Low Prevalence (Psychotic) Disorders Study (1997–1998). The SHIP was a national study, carried out across five states, in which a sample of 1825 individuals was recruited through a two-phase sampling framework. Results: Alcohol and illicit drug use was highly prevalent for the entire sample. There were few significant differences in the prevalence or frequency of use across the diagnostic categories examined. Substantial increases in substance abuse/dependence were noted since the 1997–1998 survey (51% diagnosed with alcohol abuse/dependence, 51% with cannabis abuse/dependence and 32% with other illicit drug abuse/dependence, compared to 28%, 23% and 12% respectively, in the 1997–1998 survey by Kavanagh et al., 2004). Factors significantly associated with both lifetime alcohol and cannabis dependence included male gender, younger age, single marital status, lower educational attainment, shorter duration of illness, lifetime presence of hallucinations, higher negative syndrome score and lower body mass index (BMI). A number of other factors were found to be differentially associated with either lifetime alcohol or cannabis dependence. Conclusions: The use of alcohol and illicit substances is common among people with a psychotic illness, with a concerning upward trend in rates of substance abuse/dependence since the 1997–1998 survey. Clinicians should be aware of the potential impact of concurrent substance use and provide integrated treatment for individuals presenting with psychotic illnesses. More research and investment in new intervention programs is required.

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