More workers turning to amphetamines

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cocaine use among U.S. employees and job applicants in the general work force dropped nearly 30 percent in 2008, while positive tests for amphetamine rose, according to a recent study.

The annual Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index, based on 5.7 million urine drug tests, found that methamphetamine use also fell about 21 percent. Amphetamine use jumped more than 12 percent from last year, the index showed.

Cocaine, methamphetamine and amphetamine are each a type of stimulant, typically used to increase alertness and relieve fatigue.

The findings are unusual because methamphetamine and amphetamine typically track together, according to Barry Sample, director of science and technology for Quest Diagnostics' Employer Solutions Division. The recent spike in amphetamine could indicate increased use of a prescription drug to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he said.

Meanwhile, the drop in cocaine use could be credited to efforts of law enforcement Sample said.

In the federal work force, the rate for positive drug tests is lower than in the general work force, where employees are less likely to expect random drug testing. The drug rate in the general work force is dramatically higher for employees than for job applicants in pre-employment tests.

Drug use has been in a 19-year decline since Quest Diagnostics first published the Drug Testing Index in 1989, summarizing data from 1988, when 13.6 percent of workers tested positive.