Beating Drug Tests and Defending Positive Results, 2nd Edition

by Amitava Dasgupta (ed.) In today’s business practice, a majority of the Fortune 500 Companies implement some practice of workplace drug testing in their company policies. Workplace drug testing deters employees from abusing drugs. A drug-free workplace can lead to increased productivity, less job related accidents as well as improved morale in the workplace. Unfortunately, chronic drug abusers also need employment and often try to beat pre-employment drug testing by substituting synthetic urine instead of a person’s own urine, ingesting a variety of substances (detoxifying agents intended to flush drug out) available through the Internet or by adding various adulterants in vitro after collecting the urine specimen. Since the publication of the 1st edition of Beating Drugs Tests and Defending Positive Results: A Toxicologist’s Perspective in 2010, there have been significant new developments in this field as more and more companies institute mandatory pre-employment drug tests. Moreover, when tested positive, people tend to defend positive results by providing an alternative explanation for positive test results. The previous edition was intended to describe how people try to beat drug testing and what toxicologists can do to identify adulterated results, and it is becoming increasingly important for toxicologists to stay up to date on emerging designer drugs and the methods of cheating drug test results. As a result, this 2nd edition contains 16 chapters that discuss various aspects of drug testing; especially challenges in detecting designer drugs such as synthetic cathinones (bath salts), synthetic cannabinoids (Spices, K2), opioid like designer drugs, and other substances that have emerged in the drug market. A major focus of this book is to discuss various analytical tools available to drug testing laboratories to identify adulterated specimens. It will cover all major issues concerning how people try to beat drug tests and defend positive test results. Written by internationally known experts in the field, Beating Drugs Tests and Defending Positive Results: A Toxicologist’s Perspective 2nd Edition will be a valuable resource for toxicologists, medical technologists, pathologists, human resources professionals, and anyone who is interested in workplace drug testing.