Companies must begin to consider the possibility that there is abuse of substances other than cocaine and marijuana and be aware that it is a problem that may be going unnoticed.
as anti-inflammatories, cold remedies, antitussives, homeopathic or naturopathic substances, weight loss drugs, and even cultural remedies, as well as the use of the coca or the marijuana plant to treat certain conditions and without any medical judgment but on the contrary given as such as tea, herbal teas, salves, ointments, and others. Tis is particularly prevalent in rural areas and isolated workplaces, where access to medical personnel is not easy and thus the best recourse for managing symptoms is traditional medicine. In the instance of tranquilizers such as benzodiazepines, positive results at the workplace have occurred because people have a prescription, but they do not report to the occupational health professional at the company that they are under treatment and that there may be a risk factor when working in critical positions. We have also had cases of cross-reactivity
with oxazepine. Te use of stimulant medica- tions has been infrequent, in our experience, with performing screening on company em- ployees, however it should not be excluded, given that there is a worldwide trend. Being able to decipher whether a
situation is occasional consumption as the 20 datia focus
ones described above, or if there is abuse or drug addiction, is a major challenge for medical personnel who interpret the results. Prescription drug consumption can be an excuse used by employees to justify the results; therefore, strategies should focus on prevention. Additionally, the handling of these
samples has caused serious problems in companies, given that it is necessary when presented with a positive result, to remove the worker from the workplace, starting a chain of custody process and sending the sample for confirmatory testing. On top of this, in Colombia, there are
very few laboratories with the necessary technology to differentiate, for example, opioid medications from heroin (the illegal drug of this group of substances). Usually laboratories with the necessary chromatographic techniques, belong to government agencies and they are used only in legal proceedings, so confirmatory testing of screening at the workplace is sent to laboratories abroad, greatly increasing costs for the company as well as the time to obtain results, which can take several weeks. Another relevant aspect of drug use is that many drugs are not screened for, as most
programs focus on traditional substances, opioids and benzodiazepines, and leave out some prescription drugs with high potential for abuse and therefore go unnoticed; these include oxycodone, fentanyl and methadone tricyclic antidepressants and barbiturates, that in other countries have high consumption statistics. Given that in Colombia the legalization
of marijuana for therapeutic purposes is being debated, it must be clear how this will be controlled in order to prevent abuse. Te question is how to ensure that it will be used under medical supervision and for purposes that are legally approved. But considering the lack of data and control strategies for drugs, greater efforts will be required to ensure the correct use of these substances and that this will not become a greater problem in the workplace. In conclusion, the misuse of prescription
drugs can have negative effects on job performance, generating as much as, or even more, hazard than illegal drugs, because they are a risk factor for accidents, have a high potential for abuse and are easily acquired. It is imperative that increased budgets for research and confirmatory tests
summer 2015
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