Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Positive Drug Tests Among U.S. Workers Reach Highest Level In A Decade
The share of U.S. workers testing positive for illicit drug use reached its highest level in a decade, according to data from millions of workplace drug tests administered by Quest Diagnostics Inc., one of the nation鈥檚 largest medical-screening laboratories. Detection of illicit drugs鈥攆rom marijuana to heroin to methamphetamine鈥攊ncreased slightly both for the general workforce and the 鈥渟afety-sensitive鈥 workforce, which includes millions of truck drivers, pilots, ship captains, subway engineers, and other transportation workers. (Weber, 9/14)
Amid the nation鈥檚 deadly and unrelenting opioid epidemic, U.S. law enforcement officers are shouldering an increasingly heavy burden 鈥 battling a booming drug market and responding to an endless string of narcotics-related calls while attempting to protect themselves from exposure to the lethal substances. Of particular concern is the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl, the subject of numerous alerts and advisories from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has warned the nation鈥檚 policing community 鈥渢o exercise extreme caution.鈥 (Bever and du Lac, 9/14)