The Federal Railroad Administration announced in the December 28, 2018 Federal Register that the random drug and alcohol rates for 2019 will remain unchanged. The annual random testing rate for Covered Service Employees will remain at 25% for drug and 10% for alcohol and Maintenance of Way Employees will remain at 50% for drug and 25% for alcohol.
The United States Coast Guard announced in the Federal Register on December 28th that they are increasing the random drug testing rate for covered crewmembers for 2019 from 25% annually to 50% annually as a result of the MIS data for the most recent reporting year indicating that the positive rate is greater than 1%. For the official Federal Register announcement please see https://www.govinfo.gov/…/…/FR-2018-12-28/pdf/2018-28231.pdf
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced in the December 11, 2018 Federal Register that the random drug testing rate for 2019 will remain unchanged at 50% annually. PHMSA currently does not require random alcohol testing. Please see https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-12-11/pdf/2018-26750.pdf for the official publication of the 2019 PHMSA random testing rate.
The FAA announced their 2019 random testing rates will remain the same (25% for drug and 10% for alcohol). See details in the December 3rd Federal Register. http://ow.ly/V2LY30mQxg3
On October 17, 2018, the Federal Transit Administration announced that effective January 1, 2019, the minimum rate of random drug testing will increase from 25 percent to 50 percent of covered employees for employers subject to FTA’s drug and alcohol regulation. This change is due to an increase in the industry’s “positive rate” as reflected in random drug test data for calendar year 2017.
The alcohol testing rate is unchanged for 2019 and will remain at 10 percent.
Please see FTA’s October 17th letter announcing this change.
It’s often said that opioid abuse and addiction has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. It affects people from all walks of life—teens and adults, professionals and blue collar workers alike. Opiates include any drug derived from the opium poppy plant. While all opiates are opioids, there are opioids that aren’t opiates. Some examples of opiates are heroin, morphine, and codeine.
Short-Term Indicators of Opiate Abuse
The signs of opiate abuse can be divided into short-term effects, which occur while the individual is under the influence, and long-term effects. While a person is under the influence of heroin, for example, he or she may display:
Some indicators that a person is under the influence of codeine include:
Morphine can cause similar short-term effects, such as itching, drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting. Additionally, morphine can result in:
Long-Term Indicators of Opiate Abuse
Some of the long-term effects of opiate abuse and addiction differ from drug to drug, but there are many similarities. Among these similarities are changes in behavior, emotions, and personality, such as the following:
Withdrawal Side Effects
When a person has become addicted to opiates, he or she will go through withdrawal effects when the drug is no longer in the body. Withdrawal effects typically include:
AZC Drug Testing Employee Screening Services is a national provider of drug and alcohol testing and employee background check services with offices in Tucson, AZ and Phoenix, AZ. You can reach us at (800) 224-8532 for more details about our family and personal drug testing services, or for information about starting a drug-free workplace program.