Workplace Drug Testing Data – Marijuana Most Commonly Detected Drug, Fentanyl Use Skyrockets During Pandemic

Quest Diagnostics 2020 Drug Testing Index and Trends Report Show Disturbing Trends in the Workforce

Disturbing Drug Testing Trends - Fentanyl Use

We looked at two studies published by Quest Diagnostics just months apart during late-Summer, early-Fall 2020, and they reveal an expected trend, and a disturbing one as well.

The first report, Quest’s annual Drug Testing Index, was issued on August 20, 2020, and indicates that, while drug positivity hit a 16-year high in 2019, overall opiate positivity was down. This was likely due to an increased awareness among the American public concerning the incredible dangers posed by opiate addiction.

Not Surprising:

Legalization of Marijuana Leads to More Positive Drug Tests

The main culprit for the increase in positivity results was an increase in marijuana. This is probably not surprising to anyone, given its legalization in numerous states.

Say what you want about marijuana, all research indicates that it is not physically addictive, and that matters. Someone with a positive marijuana test can be rehabilitated without need for hospitalization due to the absence of withdraw symptoms.

Further, there are few if any reports of fatal marijuana overdoses.

The fact that opiate use was down nearly 37% from its high in 2015 certainly seemed encouraging. Opiate addiction is a far more intractable problem than is marijuana use, and the loss of life caused by opiate addiction is simply heartbreaking.

What we found missing from this DTI, however, was any specific delineation of positive tests for of fentanyl.

Two months later, that changed.

Fentanyl Use Exploded During Pandemic

Positive Drug Tests for Heroin and Fentanyl Escalated Dramatically During the First Three Months of the Covid-19 Shutdown

In a Health Trends Study issued by Quest on October 15, 2020, information concerning fentanyl was front and center – and it was not encouraging. Rather, the Study found that, during the period March 15 thru May 16, 2020 “the drug positivity rate increased 35% for non-prescribed fentanyl and 44% for heroin during the pandemic compared to the period prior to the pandemic.”

The Study reported, "[u]se of illicit fentanyl in men increased 51%, from 5.7% in 2019 to 8.6% from mid-March to mid-May 2020. Women's positivity rate increased 16%, from 3% to 3.7%."

There can be little doubt that the increase in heroin and fentanyl use among the American workforce during the pandemic is the result of many factors, not the least of which is isolation, loneliness, depression and, perhaps, a significant decline (nearly 70% according to Quest) of drug testing during the early stages of the pandemic.

The increase in positivity for heroin and fentanyl is particularly worrisome, because these drugs are so physically addictive that the average person, once addicted, simply cannot go more than several hours without experiencing severe withdraw symptoms. These symptoms don’t dissipate for some time, and can last weeks. This is why it is so difficult to break the addiction – the best cure for the symptoms is using fentanyl or heroin. It is a vicious cycle. It is a cycle that can cause major problems for even the most well-intentioned employers - absences from work, lower productivity at work, theft at work...

To add to the problem, it is now common for drug dealers to include fentanyl into other drugs, such as amphetamines, benzodiazepines and cocaine. This means that even folks who sought to avoid the scourge of opiate addiction will find themselves unknowingly trapped in that very vicious cycle via use of other "recreational" drugs.

Drug addiction touches nearly every family to some degree, it seems, and poses a challenge for virtually every employer, large and small. It is apparent that we are all hard at work addressing this multi-faceted problem, and we are all praying that future trends will point in the right direction.