25 February 2008, 08:13

Screening for drugs of abuse

Screening for drugs of abuse (as distinct from the investigation of volatile substance abuse) is carried out with urine specimens. A wide variety of drugs will be detected qualitatively by the "standard" screening procedure. However, some other substances of abuse are not sought routinely, and in these cases, the laboratory test which is relevant should be requested specifically.

It should be noted that analysis of urine specimens for "drugs of abuse" will only give information about current or recent drug usage. A specimen taken more than a few days after an episode of 'abuse' is likely to be negative on screening for most substances, with the notable exception of cannabis.

The range of substances detected in the "standard" screening procedure includes controlled drugs (CD), prescription-only medicines, medicines available over-the-counter (OTC), and illicit drugs. Confirmation of the presence of specific substances will be routinely carried out where amphetamine and opiate class drugs are detected on screening.

Panel Backs Softer Marijuana Penalty

Concord, NH - A House subcommittee yesterday approved a bill to reduce the consequences of possessing small amounts of marijuana.

The Criminal Justice and Public Safety subcommittee voted 3-1 to reduce to a violation, punishable by a $200 fine, possession of less than one-quarter ounce of marijuana. It is not clear when the full committee will vote on the bill.

Current law makes possession of marijuana a misdemeanor, which carries a fine and criminal record upon conviction. A violation would not mean a record, Rep. David Welch, R-Kingston, said.

"Young folks who aren't always making intelligent choices could screw up their chances at a Pell Grant for college later on," under current law, he said. A quarter ounce is the equivalent of seven or eight joints, Welch said, referring to marijuana cigarettes.

The subcommittee set a lower limit than the original version of House Bill 1623, which would have decriminalized holding up to one and a quarter ounces. It also corrected a drafting error in the bill that would have removed penalties for selling small amounts of marijuana.

Rep. John Tholl, R-Whitefield, who is the Dalton police chief, voted with Welch and Rep. Ellen Nielsen, D-Claremont, for the amended bill. Tholl said possession of a quarter-ounce is "far less onerous than an ounce." He said it's not clear how far the full Criminal Justice committee, with its high percentage of retired law enforcement officers, will view the bill.

Matt Simon of the N.H. Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy said he was happy to see the bill advance. Current penalties are "unnecessarily harsh," he said.

"These representatives have taken an honest look at the facts and they've agreed to support punishments which come closer to fitting the offense." Rep. Delmar Burridge, D-Keene, opposed the bill, sponsored by Reps. Jeffrey Fontas, D-Nashua, Andres Edwards, D-Nashua, and Charles Weed, D-Keene.

Source: Union Leader (Manchester, NH), Union Leader - Front Page News

Drug Testing Ruling Stokes Dispute

A court ruling against a fired marijuana user won't stop the province's human rights commission seeking changes to workplace drug-testing policies, a lawyer on the case said yesterday.

"I think automatic termination is troubling because you're denying someone employment," said Arman Chak, an Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission lawyer who represented the fired worker, John Chiasson, during a recent court case.

Chak said the commission hasn't decided on whether to challenge a ruling from the Alberta Court of Appeal rejecting Chiasson's claims a Fort McMurray employer's drug-testing policies were discriminatory.

While Chiasson admitted he was only a recreational pot smoker, a lower-court judge had earlier ruled that in firing anyone who tested positive for drugs, engineering and construction company Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) had essentially treated him as an addict and therefore disabled.

Alberta's human-rights legislation forbids discrimination on the basis of disability.

The appeal judges, however, have now ruled safety concerns justify workplace drug-testing policies, thereby overturning the earlier court decision.

For Chak, the debate isn't over. "Is that the best way to deal with him? I think that's a level of disrespect that we don't expect in Alberta," he said of Chiasson's firing.

Chak pointed to evidence a urine test showing the presence of marijuana doesn't necessarily mean a person is impaired.

He said in Chiasson's case, the worker had started his job as a receiving clerk at a Syncrude Canada construction site by the time the test results came back.

By then, it had been weeks since he had smoked the pot.

Source: Drug testing ruling stokes dispute