The National Forensic Laboratory Information System
An estimated 24.6 million (9.4 percent) Americans aged 12 or older who were current (past month) illicit drugs users.
NFLIS, (htps://
www.nflis.deadiversion.
usdoj.gov/Default.aspx) is administered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Office of Diversion Control of the US Department of Justice. It collects data from analyses of substances secured during law enforcement operations. In addition to the DEA and other Federal laboratories, there are 272 participating state and local laboratories which repre- sent more than 91 percent of the nearly 1 million drug analysis cases performed in the first half of 2013 and reported by the end of September 2013. A limitation of this dataset is that it only represents data for those cases in which laboratories are asked to perform an analysis (e.g. based on local needs, law enforcement authori- ties may choose not to have seized batches of marijuana or clearly marked prescrip- tion drugs analyzed). However, it may be useful in assessing which drugs are currently being used or may be found in the near future (e.g. synthetic stimulants or cannabinoids).
Overall Illicit Drug Use As reported in the 2013 NSDUH survey, there were an estimated 24.6 million (9.4 percent) Americans aged 12 or older who were current (past month) illicit drugs users. Tis rate is similar to 2010 and 2012 (8.9 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively) but is higher than 2002 through 2009 and 2011 (range: 7.9 percent to 8.7 percent). Of inter- est to employers is that current illicit drug use among those respondents not subject to workplace drug tests held relatively steady between 2002 and 2009 (range: 10.3 percent to 10.8 percent) but has increased since then, reaching 12.5 percent in 2012. In contrast, among those subject to employer drug testing, current illicit drug use between 2002 and 2011 ranged between 6.9 percent and 7.4 percent and reached 8.0 percent in 2012. Tis represents a 45 percent to 61
10 datia focus
percent higher self-reported use rate over the last five years by those employees not subject to drug testing. In 2013, DTI data showed a 5.7 percent increase in positivity rates (3.7 percent vs. 3.5 percent in 2012). While this is a modest increase, it is the first time that urine drug test positivity rates in the Combined, US General Workforce (GW), and Federally-Mandated Safety Sensitive (FMSS) workforce have increased since 2003 (except for the increase in 2011 among the FMSS group related to cutoff level changes effective October 2010). Also, positivity rates in 2013 were at the highest levels across all three groups since 2007. In the MTF, any past year illicit drug use for the three combined grade levels was up 1.3 percent (primarily driven by marijuana use) in 2013 as compared to 2012. While it is too early to tell whether broader, increasing soci- etal illicit drug use is starting to be observed in those subject to drug testing as reported in the NSDUH and DTI, the recent data (including that from the MTF) suggests that employers need to remain vigilant in their drug free workplace programs. Of the 5.1 million ED visits in 2011, 2.5 million (49 percent) were atributed to drug misuse or abuse and, of those, 1.3 million involved illicit drugs. Visits involving illicit drugs were similar between 2004 and 2009 but increased significantly from 2009 to 2011. Many have asked about the relationship
between employment status and illicit drug use. Te 2013 NSDUH provides the fol- lowing insight: “Among unemployed adults aged 18 or older in 2013, 18.2 percent were current illicit drug users, which was higher than the rates of 9.1 percent for those who were employed full time and 13.7 percent for those who were employed part time. However, most il- licit drug users were employed. Of the 22.4 million current illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2013, 15.4 million (68.9 percent) were employed either full or part time.”
winter 2015
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