More employees and job applicants tested positive for cocaine over the previous year in the first quarter, though marijuana remained the top drug in the workplace.
The number of people testing positive for cocaine rose to 0.3 percent in the first quarter from 0.2 percent in the year-earlier period, according to a report released Friday by Honolulu-based Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc.
Marijuana, which most frequently shows up in workforce drug testing, rose slightly to 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent in the previous quarter, but was down from 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
The use of methamphetamine, or “ice,” increased to 0.8 percent from 0.7 percent in the previous quarter, though it was down from 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
“Our first-quarter workforce drug testing results indicate drug use has stabilized, including the use of synthetic urine, which steadily rose the last couple of years, and cocaine use, which had a big jump last year,” said Carl Linden, DLS scientific director of toxicology. “That’s good news for now.”
However, an increasing concern nationally is physician prescriptions for amphetamines, particularly among women ages 26 to 34.
“We may start seeing some of this in workforce drug testing, but like the alarming rise of opiate use, if it’s prescribed by a physician, it will not be reported in drug testing results,” Linden said.
Meanwhile, opiate use was up at 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent a year ago, and synthetic urine use was unchanged at 0.9 percent.
DLS did not report the exact number of those tested, but said its quarterly sample size typically includes between 7,000 and 10,000 drug tests.
