Professor David Nutt, a psychiatrist and director of neuropsychopharmacology in the Division of Brain Sciences at Imperial College, London, set out to measure just that. He and his team worked on using statistical data to help them measure the potential for and consequences of using certain substances. In completing this research they helped answer an interesting question: What are the five most addictive substances in the world?

1. Heroin

Heroin was listed as the most addictive drug on their scale with a score of 3 out of 3. Heroin is an opiate that causes the level of dopamine in the brain’s reward system to increase by up to 200%. It’s also a very dangerous drug considering the fact that a lethal dose of heroin is only 5 times more than the dose required to get high. Heroin was also rated as the second most harmful drug in terms of damage to users and society within an estimated market of $68 billion dollars for illegal opiates worldwide.

2. Cocaine

Cocaine was listed as number two on their list of addictive substances for its ability to prevent neurons from turning off your brain’s dopamine signal. Dopamine can rise up to more than three times the normal level when on cocaine. In addition to those addicting side effects, it is also extremely dangerous as crack cocaine was listed as the third most damaging drug with powered cocaine ranking at fifth most damaging.

3. Nicotine

Nicotine is the main addictive ingredient in tobacco and was named number three on Nutt’s list. More than two-thirds of Americans who have tried smoking reported becoming dependent during their life. How dangerous is smoking? A 2002 study estimated that tobacco will kill more than 8 million people annually by 2030.

4. Barbiturates (“downers”)

Barbiturates, also known as downers, barbs, blue bullets, nembies, are a type of drug that were initially used to treat anxiety and induce sleep. However, they have long been abused for their ability to cause euphoria at low doses. These drugs can be extremely dangerous because at higher doses they can be lethal due to their ability to suppress breathing. Serious barbiturate abuse and dependence was common when these drugs were more easily available, but this number has seen a significant decline as prescriptions today are not as easily obtained.

5. Alcohol

Although it is legal in both the U.S. and U.K., alcohol scored number five on their list of addictive substances with a 1.9 out of 3 on their scale. In lab experiments they found that alcohol increased dopamine in the brain’s reward system by 40% to 360%. The more alcohol that was consumed, the higher the dopamine levels got. While it is a legal and commonly used substance, alcohol is still dangerous especially when consumed in large quantities. A study conducted by the World Health Organization estimated that 3 million people died in 2012 due to damage caused by drinking. It’s also estimated that 22% of people who have taken a drink will develop dependence on alcohol at some point in their life.

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Although, if we were to rewind time back to the early 1990’s, opioids likely wouldn’t be at the forefront of the public’s mind. And nobody would have anticipated the magnitude of the opioid crisis we face today.

We are currently standing a similar precipice with benzodiazepines—or at least many would argue this fact. A recent essay was published in the New England Journal of Medicine that highlighted this thought, titled “Our Other Prescription Drug Problem”.

What are benzodiazepines?

More commonly known by their brand names such as Xanax, Valium and Klonopin, benzodiazephines are tranquilizers that are used to treat anxiety and insomnia. They have a high potential to become extremely addictive and are especially dangerous when mixed with other drugs.

There has been massive growth in use and abuse of benzodiazephines or “benzos” in the U.S.. The number of deaths attributed to the drug has risen sevenfold over the past two decades, which isn’t surprising when you take into account that the number of benzodiazephine prescriptions have increased 67% to 13.5 million from 8.1 million in 1999. However, unlike opioid prescriptions, which peaked in 2012 and have decreased nearly 20 percent since then, benzo prescriptions are continuing to rise.

Like opioids, benzodiazepines increase a user’s feeling of stupor or drunkenness. Opioids and benzos are often taken together to increase an opioid high. In fact, in 2013, 23% of people who died of an opioid overdose also tested positive for benzos. This is extremely dangerous as benzodiazepines can increase an opioid’s power to slow breathing to a stop.And previous research has also suggested that patients who are prescribed benzos and opioids are four to ten times more likely to overdose than those who are prescribed opioids alone.

The amount of opioid users who also take benzodiazepines has doubled since 2001, which led the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a strong warning against co-prescribing the two drugs in 2016.

Preventing another epidemic

With the FDA strongly warning against co-prescribing and “black box warnings” being printed, it is hopefully that we can slow benzodiazepine abuse before it gets out of hand.

Other ways we can help prevent another epidemic from breaking out and slow our current prescription drug abuse problems include:

• Try using a safer alternatives for anxiety and insomnia first like behavioral interventions or long-term medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
• Raise awareness about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs and mixing prescriptions. Some individuals may not understand the serious consequences that can be involved with prescription drug abuse, help raise awareness by talking about this sometimes sensitive subject.
• If you are struggling, be open. If you have a problem with prescription abuse, tell your doctor and they can help you find a safe way to stop or limit your abuse. Abrupt withdrawal from prescription drugs can lead to serious side effects such as extreme anxiety, sleep disturbance, convulsions, and other serious problems.
• Address other problems before they lead to addictions. Leo Beletsky, a professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University, spoke out about stopping the opioid crisis and other prescription abuse. “We have a lot of complex problems in this country. Without really addressing all of those physical, emotional, and mental health problems, just focusing on the [prescription drug] supply makes no sense — because people still have those problems.

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And it can be even worse, if those regulations aren’t enforced.

You might recall a couple of years ago when the media exposed some common procedural errors that were taking place in certain drug testing sites around the country. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) ran undercover investigations using bogus identifications and found that too many sites weren’t up to par. The news reports were covered by many different media outlets including FOX news and aimed specifically towards truck drivers. What the GAO found revealed some shocking statistics that showed some serious protocol violations.

Their undercover investigation found that:

• 75% failed to restrict access to items that could be used to adulterate or dilute the urine specimen; individuals had access to soap, air freshener, and other potential adulterants in the privacy enclosure.
• 67% had access to running water in the privacy enclosure. (potential for diluting the urine specimen)
• 42% failed to ask the employee to empty his/her pockets and display items to ensure no items were present that could be used to adulterate the specimen. The GAO investigators brought drug masking agents and synthetic urine (bought over the Internet) into the collection sites and mixed them with their specimen without being detected by trained collection site personnel.
• 19% failed to check the temperature of the specimen.
• 17% failed to add bluing agent in the toilet water or secure the tank with tape. (DATIA Focus. Vol. 7 Issue 3)

So why is this important to you?

Failing to comply with DOT drug testing regulations means that you and your company could face serious fines and other sanctions. And from a legal standpoint, you certainly want all of your testing to be done consistently and accurately or you could face a law suit and other charges if an employee or potential employee was unfairly or wrongly tested.

The collection site is often the weakest link in this circle and therefore very crucial to you as an employer. Let us here at Blueline Services help you. We are a DOT qualified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) and ensure that all of our collection sites are fair, accurate and perfectly in line with DOT drug testing regulations.

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There has been little (if any) guidance for most employers. So tactics for handling this are all over the place, according to the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association or DATIA.

Some employers are worried that trying to maintain a drug-free work policy might limit their pool of potential employees. While others are cracking down even more on their drug testing to avoid potential hazards in a new marijuana-friendly climate.

No matter your current thoughts or situation, one thing is certain: this issue affects us all.

The majority (60%) of the world’s illicit drugs are consumed by Americans. With more than 74 percent of all drug users being employed, that accounts for 12.9 million employed Americans. Two million use heroin, six million use cocaine, 18 million abuse alcohol and an impressive 23 million use marijuana at least four times a week (USDOL).

This means that even in a small business with as little as 15 employees, statistically at least one person is potentially struggling with substance abuse. (DATIA)

In a world with increasing amounts of fake news and with supporters arguing strongly from both sides, it’s important that we get the facts straight.

Can employees be tested and/or fired for using marijuana? Even if it is legal?

Yes. Even in states where recreational use is now permitted, all have exemptions for workplace drug policies. (AP)

You can still be drug tested for marijuana. And you can still be fired, or not hired for failing a drug test.

How can you be fired for something that is now legal?

Just as an employer can refuse to hire workers who smoke cigarettes or are alcoholics, the same idea applies to marijuana use.

Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA, explained, “Employment in the United States is at will. This means employers can hire whoever they want, under any conditions they want, with a few exceptions.” (Mercury News)

These exceptions under federal law say that companies cannot discriminate based on gender, race, age, religion or disabilities, but marijuana is not one of those protected classes.

What are the difficulties of testing for marijuana?

Marijuana use can still show up in a drug test for days after it has been consumed. Unlike alcohol, there is no clear scientific standard to determine when someone is impaired by marijuana.

This makes it nearly impossible to know if a potential employee is currently high during the drug test, or used it a couple of days ago to relax on the weekend.

There are a number of efforts currently trying to develop something similar to the Breathalyzer test for alcohol, but for marijuana impairment. However, these are not available yet.

Do you still report the result as positive if they used it recreationally or medically?

Yes. Even though medical or recreational marijuana is now permitted by certain legislatures, it is not exempted under employer drug testing policies.

Several cases have gone to court on this matter, with most being decided in the employer’s favor. Because marijuana is still considered illegal under federal law, employers do not have to accommodate their employees’ medical marijuana use, even if it is during non-work hours.

However, as an employer you can also choose to accommodate off-hours medical marijuana use. Ultimately, the choice is up to you.

What are the dangers of marijuana use?

Despite what many have heard in the popular media surrounding marijuana legalization, marijuana use does cause serious side effects. Accurate and unbiased sources on this subject have been hard to come by with so many paid lobbying groups and fake news circling around.

Side effects of marijuana use, as listed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, include: a negative impact on work performance and safety, increase in risk for injury, high potential for addiction, reduction in productivity, physiological signs of withdrawal, and dangers in the area of brain toxicity.

Jo McGuire, a DATIA board member, shared in a recent publication of DATIA focus magazine the story of a safety manager who exemplified just how costly a small work mishap can be for a company.

She recounts the story of a safety manager who was frustrated that a small ankle injury of an employee could end up costing around $6,000 in medical bills up front.

But to add to those bills he also had to consider: the lost work time of the employee, lost work time for the supervisor handling the off-site injury treatment, lost productivity, extra work stress load to those filling in the work gaps, hiring and training of a temporary employee and extra work for the safety manager to track, compile and maintain the injury claim.

In the end the actual cost this particular company had to forego to recoup from the entire ordeal was roughly $200,000. No small number.

A recent study by the National Institute of Drug Abuse also showed that illicit drug use cost the U.S. $193 billion dollars due to lost work productivity, crime, and health care in 2007. (NIDA)

Benefits of drug testing

Both pre-employment drug testing and routine tests to your current employees can provide serious short-term as well as long term benefits.

Some short-term benefits include:

• Fewer accidents/increased safety
• Decreased absenteeism, theft, and fraud
• Reduced monetary losses
• Ability to respond quickly when problems with drug abuse arise

Some long-term benefits:

• Decreased employee turnover
• Improved productivity and employee morale
• Reduced liability charges/cost of insurance claims
• Greater employee awareness about drug use policies and faster problem resolution
• (DOL & IHSN)

Here at Blueline Services we’re here to give you the most comprehensive and accurate drug testing and background checking at the best prices. Click on the link below to run a free demo to see just how we can streamline your screening services and save you money.

https://bluelineservices.com/drug-testing/

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