Page 29 - OHS, April/May 2024

Rapid Adoption
How much usage is oral fluid testing gaining? Every year, Current Consulting Group conducts a survey of drug testing industry players such as third-party administrators, laboratories, medical review officers, and collectors, Current says. This year will mark its 26th annual survey, and over the years, the survey has asked, “Which drug testing methods do you sell?” Five years ago, 39 percent of respondents said that they offered oral fluid testing. Last year, just shy of 87 percent of respondents said they now offer oral fluid testing, whether it’s lab-based or rapid result.
Also, it’s important to note that more “official” acknowledgment and structure have been built around oral fluid testing, which is helping its adoption. Current notes that in 2019, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, released its final guidelines for lab -based oral fluid testing of federal employees. Also, last year, the Department
of Transportation came out with final regulations for lab-based oral fluid testing among DOT-covered employers.
Both of those regulations contain language that articulates and outlines the attributesoforalfluidtesting,butCurrent emphasizes that SAMHSA’s language is one of the “most dramatic statements the federal government has ever made about a specific method of drug testing,” he says.
Specifically, SAMHSA said the following, “The scientific basis for the use of oral fluid as an alternative specimen for drug testing has now been broadly established. And the advances in the use of oral fluid in detecting drugs have made it possible for this alternative specimen to be used with the same level of confidence that has been applied to the use of urine.”3
And going back to states with recreational marijuana laws, Current says he believes other states will pass testing laws similar to California and Washington. That will only increase the need for testing methods such as lab-based and rapid-result
oral fluid testing so that employers can ensure workplace safety without penalizing lawful users.
“Both are legal in California and Washington as an alternative when those employers want to continue testing for marijuana,” he notes, adding that as states adopt similar laws, “We’ll see employers in safety-sensitive industries looking for ways to continue testing for marijuana ... and that will lead them to oral fluid testing as the alternative that allows them to continue to do that.”
David Kopf is the Publisher and Executive Editor of Occupational Health & Safety. He can be reached at dkopf@1105media.com.
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APRIL/MAY 2024 | Occupational Health & S4a/􏰀fe/2t4y 􏰁:4􏰂 PM29