Crystal meth use drops among workers in isles

The number of Hawaii workers and job applicants testing positive in the first quarter of 2012 for crystal meth­am­pheta­mine decreased from a year ago, a study released Monday showed.

Honolulu-based Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc., which tested 5,892 people in the first quarter, said workplace use of meth­am­pheta­mine, commonly known as ice, fell to 0.5 percent in the first quarter from 1.1 percent in the year-earlier period.

An even bigger decline was seen in the use of synthetic urine — which dropped to 0.8 percent of those tested from 1.5 percent a year ago. Synthetic urine, used to avoid the detection of drugs, can be bought online and then heated in a microwave oven before the test and kept warm with a hand-warming pack. DLS started testing for synthetic urine in October 2010.

"There’s been no significant change in the other drugs, just synthetic urine," said Carl Linden, scientific director of toxicology at DLS, which releases quarterly workforce drug statistics.

"We were expecting this (synthetic urine use to drop) as word got out that we can now detect synthetic urine," Linden said.

Use of most other illegal drugs have been level. "They’ve kind of been bouncing around fairly steady. It’s not getting worse but it’s not going away," Linden said.

Positive tests for marijuana and opiates remained unchanged at 3 percent and 0.2 percent in the first quarter versus a year ago, respectively. Cocaine use also was essentially flat at 0.2 percent.

Linden noted that the use of prescription painkillers, not currently tested for in the workplace, has been on the rise in their other clinical examinations. More companies have been requesting such testing, he said.

Due to the dramatic rise in the use of painkillers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, changes are being sought at both the state and federal level to include these drugs in workplace testing, Linden added.