By Michelle ContyAssociate EditorProspective job hunters may want to think twice about getting high. Joplin area businesses and employment agencies are cracking down on employee drug use. With more random testing, pre-employment screening and advances in testing equipment, employers are better equipped to filter out undesirable employees.”We follow our clients’ desires,” said Tom Crook, general manager for Adecco employment agency. “Some clients require testing prior to the prospective employee being sent in for an interview, and all clients require testing before a candidate is put on their payroll.”There is not a fee for the pre-employment testing for the applicant unless the test comes back positive or non-negative. If the test is positive or non-negative and the applicant wants to contest, she or he can ask for a retest at his or her expense.Adecco runs a 10-panel drug test through a National Independent Drug Association certified lab. There are chemicals on the market designed to mask certain drugs. However, these chemicals do leave traces. Drug testing laboratories can determine if any altering chemicals are present in the specimen.The presence of altering chemicals causes a non-negative result in the test. A nonnegative is an invalid result.”If a specimen is non-negative or adulterated, the lab will do another screen,” said Mona Dunn, registered nurse and Freeman Occumed director.Occumed does not witness the donation unless the specimen is cold and will not register for the test, or there is reason to believe the specimen has been tampered with, such as an odor of bleach.When witnessed, the Occumed employee is required to watch the urine go into the cup, not just be in the same room. Witnessing is always same gender.”Anything man can devise, man can devise a way around,” Crook said. There are several ways to check and cross-check a sample.”The lab subscribes to High Times magazine,” Dunn said.Whenever a new product comes out, drug testing labs often purchase the product and test it in order to get an accurate reading of how the adulterant shows up in the test. People often purchase adulterants because they offer a guarantee. The guarantee states that the user will not get a positive drug screen. When an adulterant is used, the drug screen does not come back as positive, it comes back as adulterated. The user is still not employable.”What we do as a company is when the lab calls back, the person is disqualified,” he said.”My problem as an employer is when one of my clients says ‘We need drug-free people’ the test comes back inconclusive, the only thing they are masking is drugs,” Crook said. “It says I can’t trust you.”Adecco hires for employers in various fields including sanitation and factory workers as well as nurses, managers, and accountants. Some clients require graduate degrees others a high school diploma.”Adecco corporation is the largest staffing service in the world, with more than 6000 offices world wide,” Crook said.There are employers requiring beyond urine testing. A growing number are requesting a hair sample. Chemical treatments such as dyes and perms do not affect the chemicalmake-up of the hair. Depending upon the length of a persons hair, it is possible to determine if someone has taken drugs within a several month time frame. Competition will make hair testing more economically feasible, Crook said. “If a client requests that type of testing we can have it done.””If not now, then very soon, no company will hire without testing,” he said. “Is it worth losing your ability to make a living in your chosen profession?”Another form of testing that is becoming widely used is saliva testing. There are new products on the market for Saliva testing, said Dunn. Everything is witnessed and there is an instant result.”Freeman Occumed performs more than 20,000 drug screens a year. Occumed handles the pre-employment, random, and post-accident drug screens for “every major company in the area”, she said.It has long been rumored that drugs flush out of a persons system in less than 30 days. The time frame by which someone could test positive for illegal drug use varies by the individual.”I had someone from Neosho test positive for marijuana a couple of months ago who said s/he hadn’t smoked in more than six weeks,” said Crook.”Drugs build up in a persons system in their fat cells,” said Dunn. “The chronic user vs. a one time social user, what they have taken, the amount consumed, how long ago, how a persons body holds the substance, there are so many variable factors.”In the past few years Dunn has noticed a change in what drugs people test positive for. “Methamphetamines are a huge amount of what people are doing in this area, as well as marijuana, still,” she said.Meth produces an instant high and instant addiction, she said. The high is 10 times worse than heroin Someone takes the drug once and keeps looking for that first high. “People need to not use drugs because eventually they will be caught,” said Dunn. Eagle Pitcher Industries does pre-employment, post-accident, and random drug testing. “If a pre-employment tests positive they are not even given a second look,” said Patti Martin, RN, plant nurse. “If a current employee tests positive we try to help any way possible.”Eagle Pitcher policy mandates an automatic 45 day layoff without pay for the first offense. If the employee then tests clean they are allowed to return to work otherwise the employee is sent to the company counselor After the first positive the employee’s job is on the line. If the employee is not clean when they return from the 45 day layoff, they are then terminated.”They are given a chance to clean up and get some help,” Martin said.”If someone does test positive they will have 4 random in the next calender year,” said Joel Alumbagh legal counsel for Eagle Pitcher. “If positive on any of those, they are terminated.”Eagle Pitcher employees more than seven hundred people in the Joplin branch. Currently after collecting the specimen and signing off on it with the donor, Martin sends it to a drug screening lab.”We have talked about going to a rapid test but haven’t made the transition,” she said. Less than five percent of the tests Martin sends to lab come back non-negative, adulterated, or positive.”It’s not much of a problem. Once in a while we’ll get one but not for the most part,” Martin said.Employee moral concerning drug testing is positive.”Everyone is OK with it,” she said. “They don’t gripe and complain, they may not want to do it but they know it is policy.”If the specimen comes back adulterated Martin has to get another specimen. The donor is not allowed to leave until they have given the second specimen.Martin started with Eagle Pitcher at the end of May 2002, after graduating from Missouri Southern as an RN. In that time she has not had to collect for a second test yet. Prior to returning to school, she worked for Occumed for 5 years as an LPN.”I have seen people at Occumed empty their pockets and a vial of urine fall in the floor,” she said.Drug screening ensures for a safer work environment.”We test to ensure that we’re not hiring anyone on drugs to work side by side everyone else building an explosive battery that could harm them and everyone around them,” Martin said.”I have seen an increase in the percentage of those testing positive for meth in the past 5- 7 years,” said Alumbagh.”It is more of an issue now than it use to be, it use to be people tested positive for marijuana, now its methamphetamine.””My problem as an employer is when one of my clients says ‘We need drug-free people’ the test comes back inconclusive, the only thing they are masking is drugs,” Crook said. “It says I can’t trust you.”Adecco hires employees in various fields including sanitation and factory workers as well as nurses, managers and accountants. Some clients require graduate degrees, others a high school diploma.”Adecco corporation is the largest staffing service in the world, with more than 6,000 offices worldwide,” Crook said.There are employers requiring beyond urine testing. A growing number are requesting a hair sample. Chemical treatments such as dyes and perms do not affect the chemical makeup of the hair. Depending upon the length of a person’s hair, it is possible to determine if someone has taken drugs within a several month time frame. Competition will make hair testing more economically feasible, Crook said. “If a client requests that type of testing, we can have it done,” he said.”If not now, then very soon, no company will hire without testing. Is it worth losing your ability to make a living in your chosen profession?”Another form of testing that is becoming widely used is saliva testing. There are new products on the market for saliva testing, Dunn said. Everything is witnessed and there is an instant result.Freeman Occumed performs more than 20,000 drug screens a year. Occumed handles the pre-employment, random and post-accident drug screens for “every major company in the area,” she said.It has long been rumored that drugs flush out of a person’s system in less than 30 days. The time frame by which someone could test positive for illegal drug use varies by the individual.”I had someone from Neosho test positive for marijuana a couple of months ago who said she hadn’t smoked in more than six weeks,” Crook said.”Drugs build up in a person’s system in their fat cells,” Dunn said. “The chronic user versus a one time social user, what they have taken, the amount consumed, how long ago, how a person’s body holds the substance, there are so many variable factors.”In the past few years Dunn has noticed a change in what drugs people test positive for. “Methamphetamines are a huge amount of what people are doing in this area, as well as marijuana, still,” she said.Meth produces an instant high and instant addiction, she said. The high is 10 times worse than heroin. Someone takes the drug once and keeps looking for that first high. “People need to not use drugs because eventually they will be caught,” Dunn said. Eagle Pitcher Industries does pre-employment, post-accident and random drug testing. “If a pre-employment tests positive, they are not even given a second look,” said Patti Martin, plant nurse at Eagle Pitcher. “If a current employee tests positive, we try to help any way possible.”Eagle Pitcher’s policy mandates an automatic 45-day layoff without pay for the first offense. If the employee then tests clean they are allowed to return to work otherwise the employee is sent to the company counselor After the first positive the employee’s job is on the line. If the employee is not clean when returning from the 45-day layoff, termination will result.”They are given a chance to clean up and get some help,” Martin said.”If someone does test positive, they will have four randoms in the next calender year,” said Joel Alumbagh, legal counsel for Eagle Pitcher. “If positive on any of those, they are terminated.”Eagle Pitcher employs more than 700 people in the Joplin branch. Currently after collecting the specimen and signing off on it with the donor, Martin sends it to a drug screening lab.”We have talked about going to a rapid test but haven’t made the transition,” she said. Less than 5 percent of the tests Martin sends to lab come back non-negative, adulterated or positive.”It’s not much of a problem. Once in a while we’ll get one but not for the most part,” Martin said.Employee morale concerning drug testing is positive.”Everyone is OK with it,” she said. “They don’t gripe and complain; they may not want to do it, but they know it is policy.”If the specimen comes back adulterated, Martin has to get another specimen. The donor is not allowed to leave until they have given the second specimen.Martin started with Eagle Pitcher at the end of May 2002, after graduating from Missouri Southern as an registered nurse. In that time she has not had to collect for a second test yet. Prior to returning to school, she worked for Occumed for five years as an licensed practical nurse.”I have seen people at Occumed empty their pockets and a vial of urine fall in the floor,” she said.Drug screening ensures for a safer work environment.”We test to ensure that we’re not hiring anyone on drugs to work side-by-side everyone else building an explosive battery that could harm them and everyone around them,” Martin said.”I have seen an increase in the percentage of those testing positive for meth in the past five to seven years,” Alumbagh said.”It is more of an issue now than it use to be; it use to be people tested positive for marijuana, now it’s methamphetamine.”