substituted urine samples increased by sixfold, while marijuana positive screens jumped in finance and real estate, according to quest diagnostics
Workers are cheating on drug tests at the highest rate in more than 30 years, according to one of the u.S.’s largest drug-testing labs.
The increase in tampered tests came from samples collected in 2023, a year also marked by rising marijuana positive tests from employees and job candidates in traditional office settings, according to quest diagnostics.
“some american workers are going to great lengths to attempt to subvert the drug-testing process,” said dr. Suhash harwani, senior director of science for workforce health solutions at quest.
Workforce positive drug screens were particularly high last year for jobs associated with office work, quest said. Marijuana positivity was up last year in 13 out of 15 industries, led by finance and insurance, which increased more than 35%. Public administration positive tests rose by nearly 24% and real-estate rental and leasing jobs that screened positive were up more than 22%. Positive marijuana screens were also higher in the education sector, as well as professional, scientific and technical services.
The percentage of urine samples that came back positive for drugs among the u.S. Workforce remained steady at a two-decade high for the third year in a row. But the substantial rise of tampering, as well as the patchwork of new marijuana laws across the u.S., have intensified challenges for employers seeking to keep drugs out of the workplace.
The rise in cheating on drug tests is disturbing, said katie mueller, a senior program manager focusing on cannabis safety at the national safety council, which advises companies on workplace policies.
“it’s something that employers, employees and all of us should be worried about,” mueller said. “drug tests are there to ensure the safety of employees and everyone in the community.”
substitute urine and synthetics
There are several ways to cheat on a drug test. One common method is to substitute a urine sample with urine from someone else, harwani said. Some people use animal urine or synthetic urines that can be purchased online, he said.
Approximately 6,000 urine samples out of about 5.5 million collected from the general u.S. Workforce last year were classified as substituted, quest said. That’s a more than sixfold increase from the previous year and the highest rate ever recorded by the company. This data doesn’t include samples collected from workers required to get tested by the federal government.
About 25,000 drug tests were classified as invalid, which could indicate that someone mixed the urine sample with an additive designed to hide drug use, among other possibilities. those additives are often sold online. Invalid tests were up 45% in 2023 compared with the prior year, marking the highest rate ever reported by quest.
Jennifer chang, a knowledge adviser with the society for human resource management, said she wasn’t surprised by the increase in cheating.
“it follows the trend that we have seen where many candidates are cheating on their online interviews as well,” said chang, referring to job candidates who have others take their video interviews for them.
positive tests linked to pot
Quest classifies substituted or invalid urine samples as a failed drug test. Some companies use medical review officers to check in with prospective employees or current workers to find out if there was a valid medical reason they failed the test. Sometimes they are retested, depending on the company’s drug-testing policy, quest said. A failed drug test could result in a prospective employee losing out on a job or disciplinary action for a current employee.
Out of more than 8.4 million total urine samples tested last year, which include both the general workforce and federally mandated workers, 4.6% came back positive, according to quest. The company did about 9.8 million total drug screens last year, capturing roughly 6% of the overall u.S. Workforce of 167 million people.
The trend of more positive drug screens in recent years has been driven by positive marijuana tests, harwani said.
As of april, two dozen states had allowed recreational cannabis use, according to the national conference of state legislatures. Marijuana remains a federally designated schedule I drug, alongside lsd and heroin. The biden administration is seeking to change that status, which dates back to 1970, to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
Human-resource professionals and staffing agencies say employers have been forced to rethink their drug-testing policies in order to navigate laws that vary from state to state.
About 4.5% of the tests in 2023 were flagged for marijuana usage, the highest figure for any drug, according to quest. That’s slightly more than the 4.3% in 2022 and up from 3.1% in 2019.
Amphetamines were the second-most flagged after marijuana, with a positivity rate of 1.5%, which was unchanged from the prior year. In 2019, the rate was 1.3%.
‘in the gray now’
States that have legalized recreational marijuana have seen the largest increases in positive tests for the drug. Some 5.8% of tests came back positive in states where recreational marijuana was legal in 2023, quest said, up from 2.4% in 2015.
In states where marijuana isn’t legal, the positivity rate for pot was 3.3% in 2023, compared with 2.6% in 2015.
More employers are moving away from drug screening as an effective tool to determine whether a candidate will be a good fit, said bill ravenscroft, chief revenue officer at employbridge, a staffing firm. Companies that still test for drugs have workers who operate machinery or heavy equipment or require driving.
Employers that operate in multiple states have to juggle different drug-testing laws. In new york, where recreational marijuana is legal, companies generally can no longer test for pot unless there is a federal mandate to do so. So a company that operates both in a state such as georgia, where testing for marijuana is still legal, and in new york may opt to not test employees for marijuana to maintain a companywide policy, said chang, the adviser for the society for human resource management.
“we are operating a lot more in the gray now,” chang said. “there is no one-size-fits-all for navigating marijuana in the workplace.”
