Workplace Drug Test Positives Falling

DRUG TESTING April 1995

SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories reports that workplace positive drug tests declined by 12% in 1994, following a seven-year trend (SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories, News Release, Mar. 6, 1995; "SmithKline 1994 Index Shows Decline in Percentge of Positives," Drug Detection Report, Mar. 21, 1995, p. 1).

Despite the overall drop in positives from 8.4% in 1993 to 7.5% in 1994, the 1994 positive rate for marijuana rose to 47.1%, up from 39.9% in 1993.

The number of marijuana positives for workers in safety-sensitive positions also rose to 58.8% in 1994 from 51.2% in 1993. SmithKline attributes the rise in marijuana positives to changes in the screening threshhold put into effect in Sept. 1994 by the Department of Transportation

The lab conducted more than 3.6 million tests in 1994, a 20% increase over 1993.

[For more information, contact Tobey Gordon Dichter at 1-800-877-7478.]