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MARIJUANA MOMENT
FEDS CONSIDER REMOVING MDMA FROM WORKPLACE DRUG TESTING WHILE ADDING FENTANYL
INSTEAD
* Politics
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Fentanyl Instead
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POLITICS
FEDS CONSIDER REMOVING MDMA FROM WORKPLACE DRUG TESTING WHILE ADDING FENTANYL
INSTEAD
Published
7 seconds ago
on
April 23, 2024
By
Ben Adlin
Proposed changes to federal workforce drug testing guidelines that are currently
being reviewed by officials would remove screening for MDMA—which has only
rarely appeared in workers’ urine samples during recent years—and add testing
for fentanyl, a substance that’s become far more widespread in unregulated drug
markets over the past decade.
Both MDMA—which the federal government could reschedule later this year—and the
related substance MDA, which the government would also remove from inclusion in
required drug tests under the proposed changes, were less common in tests than
PCP, which was also considered for removal from the testing panel but for now
will remain.
The offered changes were the topic of a meeting last month of the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Drug Testing Advisory
Board (DTAB), which advises the agency’s drug testing and laboratory testing
certification activities.
Marijuana Legalization Linked To Decline In Beer Sales
Marijuana Legalization Linked To Decline In Beer Sales
A recent Canadian study suggests that the legalization of marijuana has led to a
decrease in beer sales. “Canada-wide beer sales fell by 96 hectoliters per
100,000 population immediately after non-medical cannabis legalization and by 4
hectoliters per 100,000 population each month thereafter for an average monthly
reduction of 136 hectoliters per 100,000 population post-legalization,” the
researchers from University of Manitoba, Memorial University of Newfoundland and
University of Toronto found. The researchers speculate that a substitution
effect may be occurring, with consumers increasingly choosing marijuana over
beer. Interestingly, the trend did not extend to sales of spirits. When broken
down by beer type, the study found declines in sales of canned and kegged beer
but no reduction in sales of bottled beer. “One possible explanation is that
cans may be preferred to bottle in the context of individual consumption at home
due to the increasing popularity and availability of cans as well as the better
taste and drinking experience that they offer,” the study says. Additionally,
recent data shows that Canada generated more excise tax revenue from marijuana
than wine and beer combined in the 2022-23 fiscal year. Similarly, in several
legal jurisdictions in the United States, cannabis sales have outpaced alcohol
sales. A multinational investment bank noted in a recent report that marijuana
has become a significant competitor to alcohol. It also says marijuana sales
are estimated to reach $37 billion in 2027 in the U.S. as more state markets
come online.
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While MDMA is slated for removal, fentanyl is “involved in a large proportion of
overdose deaths in the United States and is therefore an important public safety
concern,” SAMHSA said in a Federal Register posting about the meeting. It’s also
increasingly used as a standalone substance, the agency said. Previously the
substance was more common in conjunction with other opioids or unintentionally
as an adulterant in other unregulated drugs.
The proposed threshold for a fentanyl positive under the Federal Workforce Drug
Testing Programs would be 1 nanogram per milliliter of blood.
Fentanyl was the third most frequently identified drug of all substances
reported by forensic laboratories, according a 2022 National Forensic Laboratory
Information System report cited by SAMHSA, accounting for 13.81 percent of all
drug positives.
As for the two psychedelics, SAMHSA’s Federal Register posting says they’re set
for removal “because the number of positive specimens reported by [Health and
Human Services (HHS)]-certified laboratories does not support testing all
specimens for MDA and MDMA.”
According to National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP) data from 2021 and
2022, the posting says, “the positivity rate for MDMA ranges from 0.001 to
0.003%, and a review of the results indicate that >25% of the positive specimens
are likely agency blind samples. MDA has a lower positivity rate than MDMA and
both have lower positivity rates than phencyclidine (PCP).”
“SAMHSA also considered removing PCP,” it adds, “but decided against this
change.”
SAMHSA
“While PCP has an overall positivity rate nearly as low as MDMA, there are
regional differences in positivity, with some areas of the country having much
higher rates,” the agency explained, “so PCP remains a regulated test analyte.”
Case-by-case testing, for example in post-accident drug testing or instances
where there’s reasonable suspicion of use of MDMA or MDA, would still be
permitted under the changes.
Financially, the removal of MDMA and MDA is expected to save between $3,800 and
$38,000 per year, according to an NLCP cost/benefit analysis of the changes,
though it notes that additional administrative costs “will likely be incurred”
as a result of the change.
Adding fentanyl, meanwhile, would add a projected $9,139 to $192,850 in annual
costs. The greater costs compared to the savings from MDMA/MDA removal is the
result of higher initial testing costs of $0.23 to $5 per specimen to test for
fentanyl compared to $0.10 to $1.00 per specimen to test for the psychedelics.
Confirmation testing for both substances is the same, though the process for
fentanyl is expected to add $304 to $2,850 in annual costs, while positivity
rates in initial tests for MDMA and MDA are so low that savings on confirmation
testing costs would be “negligible,” the NLCP report says.
RTI International / NLCP via SAMHSA
Positivity rates have remained low for MDMA for more than a decade, according to
a SAMHSA report on the proposed changes that looked at data stretching back to
January 2013.
The highest positivity rate of all 10 years analyzed was 0.005%, with the last
three consecutive years of data (2021–2023) showing rates of roughly 0.002%.
According to a SAMHSA slideshow from the meeting last month, the next step on
the proposal is for the board to present its responses to public comments
received during a period that closed in January. Still ahead is a federal review
process that could include multiple comment rounds and revisions, followed by a
formal explanation and announcement of the changes.
DTAB previously discussed the changes at a meeting in December.
SAMHSA
Betty Aldworth, director of communications and post-prohibition strategy for the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), described the
SAMHSA proposal as “a bureaucratic change driven by the preponderance of
fentanyl in the unregulated drug market and MDMA use patterns—perhaps most
notably that it is used rarely and doesn’t have characteristics suited for the
workplace.”
But she also said the decision will have “at best, a neutral impact on the
overdose crisis.”
“It’s the same failed drug war ‘prevention’ tactics that don’t prevent chaotic
drug use and further stigmatize people with opioid use disorder, a serious
mental health condition,” she told Marijuana Moment in an email. “Public safety
would be better served—more lives would be saved—if the dollars were spent on
workplace testing for fentanyl were immediately diverted to evidence-based
treatment and overdose prevention activities.”
Aldworth added that she’s also concerned for those workers who use fentanyl with
a doctor’s prescription, “as they may be forced to make a choice between their
medical privacy or the ability to keep and get a job.”
“If we wanted to make workplaces and roadways safer, we would immediately divest
from expensive workplace drug testing and divert those resources to cognitive
impairment testing, which could be installed on smart phones or even in vehicles
and made a routine part of the workday,” she said. “Impairment can be caused by
illegal drugs, prescription drugs, OTC drugs, fatigue, stress, grief, or even
dehydration or hunger. Cognitive impairment testing is inexpensive, ubiquitously
available, and a far better measure of a person’s performance at any given
moment.”
SAMHSA
The proposed adjustments in the federal guidelines come as shifts in drug laws
and use patterns force both public and private organizations to rethink drug
testing programs.
Regarding marijuana, however, which has generally been the focus of most
legislative discussions on illicit substances and driving, a Justice Department
researcher said in February that states may need to “get away from that idea”
that marijuana impairment can be tested based on the concentration of THC in a
person’s system.
Last month, meanwhile, a federal traffic safety agency said there’s “relatively
little research” backing the idea that THC concentrations in blood can be used
to determine impairment, calling into question laws in several states that set
“per se” limits for cannabinoid metabolites.
Separately, Job Corps, the national job-training program administered by the
U.S. Department of Labor, announced changes to its drug-screening protocol for
marijuana earlier this year in order to avoid punishing young people for using
cannabis prior to starting the program.
And earlier this month, new data showed that the number of positive drug tests
among commercial drivers fell last year compared to the year before, dropping
from 57,597 in 2022 to 54,464 in 2023. At the same time, however, the number of
drivers who refused to be screened at all also increased by 39 percent.
> More Than 90% Of Smokable Hemp Samples Analyzed By Researchers Contained
> Illegal Amounts Of THC, New Federal Study Finds
Photo courtesy of Pretty Drugthings on Unsplash
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our
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Related Topics:featured
Don't Miss
More Biden Voters Than Trump Voters Want To Live Where Marijuana Is Legal, But
Majorities In Both Parties Support Legalization
Ben Adlin
Ben Adlin, a senior editor at Marijuana Moment, has been covering cannabis and
other drug policy issues professionally since 2011. He was previously a senior
news editor at Leafly, an associate editor at the Los Angeles Daily Journal and
a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. He lives in Washington State.
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