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The conclusions are that:

Inhalants were the most frequently reported class of illicit drugs used in the past year among adolescents aged 12 or 13 (3.4 and 4.8 percent, respectively)

Combined data for 2002 to 2006 indicated that an annual average of 593,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 had used inhalants for the first time in the year before their survey interview

Among past year inhalant initiates aged 12 to 15, the three most commonly used types of inhalants were glue, shoe polish, or toluene; spray paints; and gasoline or lighter fluid; in comparison, nitrous oxide or whippets were the most common type of inhalant used among past year inhalant initiates aged 16 or 17

The report demonstrates that school drug testing programs need to include education about the dangers of inhalant abuse.

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FINA conducts about 2,000 drug tests annually.

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The DaytaTree Team

The article also provides some useful facts:

After implementing a student drug-testing program, Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey saw a reduction in cocaine use by seniors from 13% to 4% after two years. Schools in Autauga County in Alabama experienced decreases in marijuana use from 19% to 12%. In Indiana, 85% of schools saw an increase in drug use when testing was suspended; drug use fell when testing resumed.

In addition, Columbia University’s National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse: Teens and Parents found that 67% of teenagers and 60% of parents agreed that drug tests are effective in preventing teenagers from using illegal drugs.

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The DaytaTree Opinion: The widespread availability and abuse of a legally-available opiate has important implications for workplace drug testing and school drug testing programs.

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The staff sergeant was a unit prevention leader for a platoon of the 14th Movement Control Battalion and was responsible for collecting urine samples from soldiers in his unit. However, the staff sergeant admitted to providing advance warning about upcoming surprise screenings.

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The Financial Times article also provides a case study:

Zero tolerance approach keeps ferry services afloat

NorfolkLine Ferries has had a drug and alcohol testing policy in place for more than 10 years. The UK company has 430 onshore employees and 800 people on vessels on rolling rotas. Last year more than 2m passengers travelled on its ferries across the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The company also runs freight services.

“We have a zero tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol for our vessel-based employees. The shore-based employees are subject to random drug testing but can drink to the legal driving limit,” the company says.

It randomly tests 15 per cent of staff every year. It also tests individuals if their behaviour is considered suspicious or after any accidents or other incidents. Employees are contractually required to let the company take breath, saliva or urine tests.

“Sometimes there are people who refuse to take the test. This usually results in disciplinary action and can often lead to dismissal,” the company says. On average, it says, it dismisses fewer than five people a year for failing such tests.

But there is a policy of self-referral in place which means that employees who worry that they might fail a future test can sign up to therapeutic programmes to help them with drug or alcohol issues at the company’s expense.

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Texas Senate Bill 8 of 2007 required the UIL to implement a statewide steroid testing program that would randomly select approximately 40,000 to 50,000 athletes for testing of anabolic steroids.

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A first offense will result in a three week activity ban and three counseling sessions. A second offense will result in a six week activity ban, ADAPT program enrollment, and weekly drug testing. A third offence results in lost privileges for an entire calendar year, family counseling sessions, and a requirement to pass a drug test prior prior to reinstating any privileges.

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Start: 2008-09 school year.

Cost: $100,000-$150,000.

Funding source: Illinois High School Association.

Number of students tested: Between 700 and 1,000 tests during the 2008-09 school year.

Sports tested: All.

Other states that drug test athletes: New Jersey, Florida and Texas.

Banned substances: Drugs classified as stimulants, anabolic steroids, diuretics and peptide hormones and analogues. Some of the 78 substances listed include ecstasy, cocaine, steroids, amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, testosterone and human growth hormone.

Penalties for violation: Athletes will face year suspension with a possible reduction to 90 days from the time of the positive test if they take an educational program and then submit a negative follow-up test. Team penalties will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

When will the IHSA test: Athletes tested during state tournament competition, directly following a contest.

What if my child has an illness that requires them to take a banned substance: The IHSA’s medical review officer, who has not been hired yet, will judge whether the student-athlete’s illness is valid. The athlete will not be suspended from play until the review is finished.

How much caffeine would result in positive test: About four caffeine pills or nine cups of coffee almost immediately before the test.

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The details have been published here in the Chicago Tribune.

Illinois is the first state to impose team penalties for an individual’s positive performance-enhancing drug test.

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Alcoholism or heavy drinking is a serious problem for businesses. An estimated 15 per cent of the workforce can be considered problem drinkers. These drinkers are functional in that they remain at work and perform at a satisfactory or even above-average level. Yet their drinking can damage their health, their home life and if left unchecked, their career. Worse still, many people who have trouble with alcoholism also suffer from depression or anxiety. A pattern emerges over time in which alcohol is used to self-medicate, to reduce worry and nervousness or provide a temporary escape from the blues.

Taken together the symptoms are a warning for employers to take substance abuse seriously. The law dictates it too. Substance abuse is considered a disability, making dismissal, demotion, suspension or discipline due to problem drinking or substance abuse discriminatory.

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The report is well presented and easy to read and available for download in PDF format.

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The DaytaTree Team

This document concerns serious problems associated with benzodiazepines and the Z drugs. These drugs are commonly prescribed for insomnia, anxiety, muscular disorders but are also a significant drug on the illicit drug market. Our organisation has serious concerns with these drugs including addiction, withdrawal problems, long term damage and crime. The reader should note that where it says benzodiazepines we also include the Z drugs which share very similar pharmacological actions, side effects, toxicities and addictive potential. The Z drugs include zopiclone, zolpidem and zaleplon.

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The campaign is in response to a dramatic increase in methamphetamine abuse among 10 to 20 year olds.

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In 2005, the Pulaski County School District in Kentucky was awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools to facilitate random drug testing. The grant enabled the district to collaborate with the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (KY-ASAP) Regional Prevention Center, Kentucky School Board Association, local community coalitions, and the local school board to develop policies and procedures clarifying the district’s goals to reduce drug use and incorporating a comprehensive random drug testing program.
Pulaski County Schools’ random drug testing program is mandatory for student athletes and participants in competitive extracurricular programs and is also open to volunteers. Student drivers are tested using other funding sources. The program provides graduated consequences for students who test positive and, in keeping with a supportive philosophy, provides an opportunity for students to self-report and seek help before being tested. Full-time substance abuse counselors, provided through Operation Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment, and Education (UNITE), give students the individual support needed to become drug-free and stay that way. Operation UNITE works to rid communities of illegal drug use through undercover narcotics investigations, coordinated treatment for substance abusers, support to families and friends of substance abusers, and public education about the dangers of using drugs.
The comprehensive random drug testing program, which includes prevention and student assistance programming, is producing encouraging results. Of the 4,091 students enrolled in middle and high schools, 2,354 (57.5 percent) of the students volunteered to participate in the random drug testing program, in addition to the mandatory participants who are involved in extracurricular activities.

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There are an estimated 332,000 problem drug users in England.

Class A drug uses costs the country £15.4bn a year in crime and health costs.

Between a third and a half of theft and burglary is estimated to be drug-related.

24% of people aged 16 to 24 have used an illegal drug in the past year.

10% of people aged 16 to 59 have used an illegal drug in the past year.

The UK illegal drug market is estimated to be worth between £4bn and £6.6bn a year.

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The update on schools drug testing is:

Random testing gives students a powerful incentive to abstain from drug use. In schools today, most students who begin using drugs are not targeted by an unknown drug dealer. The spread of drug use throughout a school often closely mirrors the way a disease is spread—from student- to-student contact, multiplying rapidly as more and more students are affected. Random testing can provide young people with a reason never to start using drugs, protecting them during a time when they are the most vulnerable to peer pressure and the adverse health effects of drug use. Increasing numbers of employers, including the Federal Government, are randomly testing their workforces for drug use; students coming from schools with a random drug testing program will be familiar with the goals of such programs and will know the benefits of a drug-free lifestyle.
In addition to acting as a powerful deterrent and early warning signal for drug use, random testing programs are also flexible enough to respond to emerging drug trends, such as the abuse of prescription drugs—America’s biggest drug problem after marijuana. By adapting test panels to reflect current usage patterns, testing programs can easily respond to new drug threats.
By addressing the continuum of drug use from pre-initiation to drug dependency, random testing can stop the pipeline to addiction, help create a culture of disapproval toward drugs, and contribute to safer school and work environments. Random testing was first used in the military and in the workplace with great success. The ability of schools to tap into random testing’s tremendous prevention power was affirmed by the Supreme Court in landmark cases in 1995 and 2002.
Federal support for school-based random student drug testing was announced by the President in his 2004 State of the Union address. To date, more than 80 school districts have received Federal funds through U.S. Department of Education grants to help develop or maintain random testing programs in more than 400 schools. Across America, hundreds of schools have implemented random testing programs using other funding sources. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control’s 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) found that nationwide, of the 25.5 percent of districts containing middle or high schools that had adopted a student drug testing policy, over half conducted random drug testing among members of a specific group of students and more than a third had voluntary drug testing for all students. Encouragingly, the same survey reported that 72.2 percent of middle and high schools provided alcohol- or other drug-use treatment at school through health services or mental health and social services staff, and 34.9 percent made arrangements for treatment through organizations or professionals outside the school.

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Dear Bob Leonard, Cheryll Pearson, concerned parents and teachers:

Recently, as I read the Lexington Herald-Leader article on school drug testing for Scott County, I felt compelled to write this letter in hopes that it could serve as an encouragement to begin drug testing in our schools. While I feel all letters voicing opinions should have a signature attached at the end, this letter will not have one. The pain and grief that drugs have inflicted upon my family name has been great; therefore, I cannot bear to sign my name and expose my problems further.

Drug testing in schools is something we must implement if we want to save the lives of our children. My son is still alive, thank God, but his life has been wrecked by the use of illegal drugs. He was an outstanding athlete at Scott County High School during the ’90s and one of the most popular students in his class. Everyone wanted to be his friend and he thrived on his good personality and his athleticism. At age 16, he decided to try marijuana. He and his friends liked the effect of it so much that he began to smoke it every morning on his way to school. Other drugs were introduced to him throughout his high school days and he confessed to me at age 25 that he basically had tried everything. His continued use of these drugs contributed to his decision to drop out of college. At the time, I had no knowledge that my son had ever used drugs. He was very clever at covering up his drug use. I never found any evidence of them or suspected any use of drugs at all until one fateful night in 2002 when we received a call from the Fayette County Detention Center. He had been arrested with two other Scott County High School graduates for possession of cocaine. This was his first run-in with the law and the result was four weekends spent in jail, high legal fees and a misdemeanor on his record. To say we were shocked to hear this is a mild understatement. Of course, he told us that was the first time he ever used drugs and that it would never happen again. He continued to work at a nice restaurant during these years (they didn’t screen for drugs), making good money, so when he was unable to pay his apartment rent, we couldn’t understand why. He asked to move back home until he got back on his feet. That was a mistake on our part, since we became enablers at that point for his drug habit. (Still, we did not know he was still using drugs). Years passed and his financial condition never improved. Checks were stolen from my purse and forged by him to buy drugs, items of value disappeared from our home, and his personality changed into a person I barely recognized. The reality hit us that drugs must be at the center of it all. He did a fantastic job of concealing his habit from us up until this time. I rather forcefully told him to leave our home. I called the police and had my own child arrested for stolen checks, which amounted to thousands of dollars. More jail time, another misdemeanor, but he had to be stopped.

While I cannot tell his entire story within the limits of this letter, it is my desire to say that drug testing is imperative in today’s society. We must work to save our children from this evil force. I’d like to say this story has a happy ending and that my son is drug free, but I can’t. What I can say is that he holds a steady job, he is taking online college courses to try to catch up with his peers and he is trying to get his life together. However, he is considered a functioning drug addict. Some weekends he is gone all weekend with no explanation, as if we are just to accept his behavior. He’s 27 now and an adult, so the life decisions are his to make. He wishes he had never tried that first marijuana cigarette. It all began on the campus of Scott County Schools.

Sincerely,

A parent concerned for your children

The conerned parent and Bob Leonard have performed a public service with this letter.

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The IndyStar has reported on Walters’ comments during the meeting:

He said about 1,000 U.S. school districts have random drug testing policies. About 500 of those programs, including two in Indiana, are funded with federal grants.
The legality of random tests has been upheld by the Indiana and U.S. Supreme courts as long as the tests are not punitive.
Walters said the Bush administration has expanded its 2009 funding request for random student drug testing programs to $12 million, up from $10.8 million in 2008.
The biggest obstacle to starting drug-testing programs is overcoming the denial among parents, school officials and students, Walters said. While student use of illegal drugs has declined by 24 percent since 2001, Walters said national research shows more than half of high school students have used an illegal drug.
“We have to find a way to help people face what they don’t want to face,” he said.
Walters said research shows that random testing works.
A 2003 survey by Joseph R. McKinney, a professor at Ball State University and Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, determined that “random drug testing policies are effective in reducing the temptation to use drugs and alcohol.”

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A seven minute video is available on YouTube on the devastating impact of cocaine on people’s lives.

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Twenty-two per cent of UK employers conduct either random drug testing or pre-employment screening and another 9 per cent are planning to develop a workplace drug testing program.

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250 to 300 Student athletes tested for drugs each academic year by CCES

5,200 Athletes tested for drugs since 1990

47 Positive violations—for everything from marijuana to anabolic steroids—found in drug tests since 1990

36 Football players who have tested positive for drugs since 1990

4 Hockey players who have tested positive for drugs since 1990

4 Basketball players who have tested positive for drugs since 1990

1 Field hockey players who have tested positive for drugs since 1990

1 Soccer players who have tested positive for drugs since 1990

1 Volleyball players who have tested positive for drugs since 1990

3 Violations found during drug testing this year

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Substance abuse in adolescents is undertreated in the United States. Family physicians are well positioned to recognize substance use in their patients and to take steps to address the issue before use escalates. Comorbid mental disorders among adolescents with substance abuse include depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Office-, home-, and school-based drug testing is not routinely recommended. Screening tools for adolescent substance abuse include the CRAFFT questionnaire. Family therapy is crucial in the management of adolescent substance use disorders. Although family physicians may be able to treat adolescents with substance use disorders in the office setting, it is often necessary and prudent to refer patients to one or more appropriate consultants who specialize specifically in substance use disorders, psychology, or psychiatry. Treatment options include anticipatory guidance, brief therapeutic counseling, school-based drug-counseling programs, outpatient substance abuse clinics, day treatment programs, and inpatient and residential programs. Working within community and family contexts, family physicians can activate and oversee the system of professionals and treatment components necessary for optimal management of substance misuse in adolescents.

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Nearly a quarter of UK businesses admit to problems with hungover staff on Monday mornings.

Around a quarter of accidents in the workplace are alcohol-related and 12 per cent of under 30-year-olds have been off sick due to excess alcohol, according a recent survey of 1,500 firms by insurer Royal & Sun Alliance. Recent research has also shown that alcohol abuse amongst women is climbing. Separate figures from the HSE suggest that 23 per cent of women aged between 16 and 24 drink over 21 units a week. The advised limit is 14.

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The students presented to the Lyon County Chamber of Commerce during a lunch meeting.

Audience members were presented with a series of statistics from a 2006 Kentucky Incentive Program (KIP) student self-survey, funded by the Kentucky Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, regarding tobacco, alcohol and drug use among students at 12, 14, 16 and 18 years of age.

The county has a higher percentage of students who stated they used inhalants or prescription medication with no prescription on at least one occasion in the past 30 days than regional, state and national averages in three of the four age groups, according to the data presented Thursday.

County numbers exceeded regional, state and national averages in two age groups of students who said they had had alcoholic beverages at least once in the past 30 days, as well as those who said they had used marijuana at least once in the past 30 days and those who said they had taken over-the-counter drugs to get high at least once.

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