When you work with someone day in and day out, you think you know them pretty well and can judge the quality of their character. This leads many an employer to ignore or misunderstand their obligations towards random drug testing in the workplace. Perhaps you think you would notice if an employee of yours was under the influence, or that you would be able to catch them with a standard drug testing kit.

Well, if this is the case, you’re thinking wrong.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that over 40 percent of individuals classified as drug addicts or alcoholics still get hired by perfectly respectable companies! Put another way: there are 26 million people in the workplace who may be legally impaired daily, also meaning that as an employer, you and your company are legally liable for any negligence or criminal activity because of that impairment.

These people are called “functional alcoholics” or “functional addicts,” and they can get by, day by day, under the influence without being detected. That is why random drug testing is so necessary.

Of course, most companies--at best--follow the protocol of standard employee drug testing upon hiring someone, using a drug test that covers the basics. However, the frightening truth is that almost anyone can stay sober long enough to pass such a test.

Here's the truth about drug retention times:

Name	Detectable Times for Urine Drug Testing (lab-based)	Detectable Times for Oral Drug Testing (lab-based)
Amphetamines	2-3 days	1-3 days
Cocaine	2-3 days	12 hrs. - 1 day
Marijuana	Occasional Use:1-3 days Chronic Use: up to 30 days	Immediate-36 hours
Opiates	2-4 days	12 hrs. - 3 days
Phencyclidine	2-3 days	1-3 days
Benzodiazepines	1-14 days
Barbiturates	Pentobarbital: 1-3 days Phenobarbital: 1-3 weeks
Propoxyphene	1-3 days
Methadone	1-3 days
Methaqualone	1-7 days

To make things tougher, drug users are becoming smarter and among other things they're frequently using so-called drug masking agents like these (to name just a few):

Drug Masking Agents:
1-Hour Emergency Tea BioWash CleanP, Eliminator Never Fail Quick Capsules	Quick Tea Randomizer Super Clean P THC MaxOut

So adding an Adulterant detection panel to look for these cleansers to your testing could be very insightful.

For this very reason employee drug testing must be specific, scientific, and random. Marijuana drug testing and breath alcohol testing are especially important, since 52 percent of users are using on a daily basis.

At EBI all of these requirements are not only met, but arranged for you so that you do not have to spend valuable time worrying over them. Random drug testing done by EBI complies with the government requirements as established by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services.

EBI works with the three largest accredited nationwide laboratories in the United States, so there is an accredited drug screening lab nearby.

Remember: employee drug testing does not mean that you do not trust or even like your employees, it means that you care enough about their safety and workplace security to protect them, and yourself, from the costs of on-the-job alcohol and drug abuse.