The Benefits of Workplace Drug Tests

The growing number of people that are abusing drugs and alcohol has made the topic one of great concern for employers across the nation. When an employee substance abuse issue in unresolved it results in a hefty cost to the employer. When substance abusers are employees there is an increased risk for injury on the job, higher medical related costs, unnecessary absenteeism, and less productivity.

Many employers have decided to deal with this issue head on by screening potential employees for the presence of drugs or alcohol while others conduct random drug tests on their employees. Others only test when there is an on the job injury. Regardless, these are the employers that are less likely to employ people with a substance abuse problem. It has been proven that these employers see positive results.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that in the year 2011, there were nearly ten million U.S. employees over the age of 18 that were either substance abusers or addicts during the previous twelve month period. Further, around 70% of people with substance abuse problems are employed. These numbers are staggering.

Companies do not want to employ people with substance abuse problems as they are usually unreliable and they create an unnecessary risk to the company in regards to health and injury. These are the factors that cause workers' compensation rates to soar. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration say that these people have concentration problems, are inconsistent, and lack in productivity.

Several studies that have been conducted on a national level report that there are many more employees with substance abuse problems in companies that do not test for drugs. This indicates that the drug screens are a deterrent. However, some companies believe that drug testing is ineffective since many find ways to mask the drug abuse and also that many drugs leave the body swiftly, as with the case of alcohol and cocaine.

Many people know in advance that they will have to pass a drug screen so they will make sure that when they do take the test they are clean but that says nothing about upcoming days or months. Plus, a person could have been on a cocaine binge for days but within 72 hours the presence of cocaine is gone in the urine or blood.

Currently, fewer than 60% of employers conduct drug tests on all potential job candidates and close to 30% do not test at all. The bottom line is that those companies that do conduct drug testing and encourage a workplace that is free of drugs will be less likely to have substance abusing employees. Many times, employers will get deep discounts on their worker's compensation rates for conducting pre-employment or post-employment drug screenings.

Cheryl Hinneburg is the content writer for KLEAN Treatment Center, located in West Hollywood CA. She is also working on her MS in substance abuse counseling. Cheryl has a BBA from Baker College. Cheryl's specialty is in the field of drug addiction.

learn more http://www.kleantreatmentcenter.com

Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Facts

Drug rehabilitation refers to

psychotherapeutic and medical

treatment for substance abuse or

another way to say it is a

dependence on harmful

substance. These substances or

drugs include illegal drugs,

medical drugs and alcohol. With

all of the abuse of drugs and

alcohol it can have serious consequences, socially,

physically, mentally, legal and financially.



The whole point to drug and alcohol rehabilitation is to

break the addicts dependency on these substances and

enable the patient to stop wanting or using the substance

and to find a new lifestyle, free of drugs.



What Rehab Does



Rehab treatment focuses on the dual interaction of

substance abuse and dependency, which has both a

physical and psychological impact. When dealing with

the physical impact it can result in extreme withdrawal

symptoms so when you enter a rehabilitation centre the

patients are put through a detox process which helps the

patient cope with their withdrawal from their addiction,

drugs and/ or alcohol.



A big part of rehab is dealing with the psychological

effects that the drugs or alcohol have had on the person,

during this process they will focus on teaching the patient

how to interact in certain situations and how they should

react to any stresses occurring on a daily basis in their

new drug-free environment.



In the treatment centres the patients are encouraged to

change their previous lifestyle which will even include

getting a different group of friends, especially if those

friends are addicts themselves. In the early stages of

recovery it is a very important factor in order to prevent

the patient from relapsing.



Depending on what rehab facility you are at, some programs consist of

taking you through a 12 step recovery program, which encourages

addicts to accept help when offered to them, to help them in beating

their addiction. They need to make changes in their lives to help them

recover and they need to lead an honest lifestyle.



It is generally recommended that you abstain completely

from any illegal and legal substances, such as alcohol.



This is due to the fact that often when one has to stop

taking one drug they will turn around and start taking

another, in most cases alcohol and eventually are lead

back into being an addict.



There are many forms of treatment; the traditional

programs are based mainly on counselling however

studies have shown that often patients who suffer from

addictions often have a chemical imbalance as well as

psychological problems. This imbalance can be changed

through diet, supplements and a healthy lifestyle.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?

expert=Gertrude_James

Pregnant Drug Addicts: Crime or Calamity?

Somewhere, a woman is

addicted to drugs and she

becomes pregnant. She abuses

these drugs while she is carrying

her baby and every time that she

takes a hit baby gets high too.

She has a disease, the disease

of addiction, so is she committing

a crime? But, why didn't she ask

for help? This is the calamity.



In the US alone, newborns that are born with neonatal

abstinence syndrome or more simply put, they are born

addicted, increased over 300% in the decade following

2000, states the American Medical Association. States

such as Kentucky and Florida fare the worst in the

nation. This only includes babies born addicted, not

those that are drug exposed and are able to go home.



Who is supposed to be protecting these innocent lives? It

doesn't do much good to do anything after the fact when

there is already a little life laying in the hospital NICU

fighting for its life. Charging the mother with a crime

seems a little late and useless. The only realistic thing to

do is make sure that she doesn't harm the baby that she

already gave birth to any further and try to make sure this

never ever happens again.



The best answer is to take away her parental rights to

the baby already born, permanently and to work on

efforts to intervene at the earliest possible point when a

woman becomes pregnant. This would require the help

of doctors across the nation to implement a plan to

detect addiction immediately in pregnant women and to

get involved.



Here's the problem with that plan. Most doctors are

clueless about addiction. They never received any

training on that in med school and getting involved

requires time and money so that is not an attractive

option to most doctors that are not looking for any extra

liabilities or paperwork.



So here we have the fetus which is the only thing that is

more defenseless than a child. There is also no doubt

that abusing drugs while pregnant constitutes criminal

child neglect since that was confirmed by the Supreme

Court in Whitner v. South Carolina1997. But, what

purpose does this serve?



A more recent ruling by the Supreme Court out of New

Mexico opposes the decision by South Carolina.

Currently, there is no national consensus about this so

some women are prosecuted and others are not,

depending on where they live. There is so much red tape

that makes the laws unclear.



Prosecuting a drug addict, pregnant or not, violates the

8th Amendment and then there is the other argument

about if the fetus is considered to be a person or not.

Then there are the issues of public policy and equal

protection that have to be hashed through.



In the meantime, women are giving birth to their fourth

addicted baby in five years. Some women are getting

convicted while others get a slap on the wrist. And, there

the babies lie, fighting for their lives, detoxing from drugs

they never had any control over using.



Find out more http://www.kleantreatmentcenter.com

Simple Tips to Help You Quit Smoking

By Sumith Kumar Roul



Smoking is the main cause for all kinds of health

problems and illnesses. The best way to quit smoking is

by first all understanding what it does to your body.

Before we proceed to the tips on how you can quit

smoking, I would like to mention few things. Did you

know that smoking causes cancer and more importantly

it can make you impotent?



Imagine yourself being in such a situation. I'm sure you

wouldn't want to have that situation. Cancer is not a

curable disease for many people. In many cases even

after the treatments are done, the complications still

linger on for many years. The main reason for that urge

to smoke is because of the nicotine that is present in the

cigarette.



Nicotine is a harmful substance that causes your brain to

get addicted to it. Once you get addicted to it, you find it

difficult to leave the habit. It is more like you getting

addicted to nicotine than smoking. When you get the

urge, you tend to smoke and get a feeling of relaxation in

your mind, which unfortunately is not true.

I think by now you have understood the seriousness of

this harmful habit. Let us have a look at few tips that can

help you quit smoking:



I quit: Sadly that is the first way to quit smoking. You

must have heard from someone, that you can quit this

habit slowly. Where does that lead you to? You still

smoke. When will that day come where you don't touch

the cigarette? When you still keep on smoking, you can't

leave that habit. It keeps haunting you as you want to

smoke.



It is like you see a cake. Your mind tells you nothing

wrong in having a small bite. So you go ahead and take

a bite. You continue doing that till you finish the whole

cake. You want to quit smoking, quit it completely.



Have gums handy: Once you are a smoker, you feel the

urge to smoke quite often in a day. Keep chewing the

gum till you leave the urge. A friend of mine got rid of this

habit with this method. Whenever he felt like smoking, he

put a gum in his mouth. Yes it was a difficult process, but

he finally succeeded.



Select friends who don't smoke: It is a good idea to have

friends who don't smoke. When you have the wrong

company, you tend to do that same as them. It is human

nature. If your friends smoke during the break time, try to

politely stay away from them during that time. You need

to also remember that the smell can trigger you to have a

puff and you are back to where you started.



Have support: It is good to have support from someone

who encourages you to stop smoking. You also need to

be motivated and determined to leave this habit. That

person can be your spouse, your friend, or even relative.



This step is very effective, mind you. You can try it out.

Reward yourself: It is a good idea to reward yourself

once you reach a target. To reach a target you can set

goal. For example tell yourself that you won't smoke for

at least couple of weeks. Once you complete that period,

you can reward yourself.



Friends I strongly advise you to leave this dangerous

habit. You are doing yourself a favour.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?

expert=Sumith_Kumar_Roul

10 Things You Didn't Know About Nicotine

By Lindsay M Fox



Nicotine, a chemical most

commonly found in the plants of

the Solanaceae family, is an

alkaloid and is found

accumulated in the leaves of

these plants, though the

biosynthesis of this chemical

occurs in the roots of the plants.



Nicotine is one of the major

components of addictive plants like tobacco (0.6%-3.0%)

and is the reason behind their addiction in humans due

to its psychoactive nature.

The follow are 10 interesting facts about nicotine.



1. Etymology



The name nicotine comes from the scientific name of the

tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum. The scientific name of

the tobacco plant is itself named the French ambassador

to Portugal Jean Nicot de Villemain. Villeman is credited

for sending tobacco seeds and plant saplings to Paris in

1560 for its use in medicinal purposes.



2. Extraction



Nicotine was first extracted from the tobacco plant by

German physician Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Posselt and

chemist Karl Ludwig Reimann in 1828. After its discovery

Posselt and Reimann labelled it as a poison. In fact

nicotine is an antiherbivore chemical, which causes

addiction when consumed in small amounts (1mg or

less) and death if taken in high amounts (30mg-60mg).



3. Chemistry



Nicotine is an alkaloid with the chemical formula

C10H14N2. Its IUPAC name is 3[{2,5}-1-

methylpyrrolidin-2-yl]pyridine. It has a molecular mass of

162.12g/mol. Nicotine is a hygroscopic liquid which is

miscible with water as a nitrogenous base. Its density is

1.01g/cm3, melting point -79oC and boiling point 247oC.

The nicotine molecule has a half life of 2 hours and its

metabolism is hepatic. Nicotine is also optically active

and has two enantiomeric forms.



4. Nicotine as an insecticide



As already said nicotine is an antiherbivore drug which if

taken in large amounts is fatal to life forms. That is why

nicotine laden tobacco has been used as an insecticide

even before the World War II. But after the WWII its

usage drastically lowered due to the availability of cheap

synthetic insecticides which are more readily available

than tobacco and less harmful to mammals. But in the

recent times the hype surrounding organic farming has

again increased the interest of the farmers in the use of

tobacco as a pesticide as an alternate to chemical

pesticides.



5. Nicotine addiction



Our central nervous system has certain nicotinic

acetylcholine receptors. Nicotine binds to several of

these and increases the amount of several

neurotransmitters. Among these neurotransmitters

dopamine is one such neurotransmitter which is

significantly increased during nicotine use and is

responsible for the sense of euphoria and relaxation

caused by the use of tobacco (nicotine) products.



6. Psychoactive effects of nicotine



Nicotine is a psychoactive substance as it is mood

altering. It causes both euphoria and relaxation. In the

body nicotine is metabolised in the liver. First after its

metabolism nicotine results in the release of glucose

from the liver and epinephrine from the adrenal medulla.

This sudden release of glucose and epinephrine causes

euphoria after the intake of nicotine. After the initial

euphoria nicotine leads to relaxation, increased alertness

and sharpness by working on different neurotransmitters

of the body. Nicotine also has pain relieving properties.



7. Side effects of nicotine intake



Tough it seems like nicotine is an excellent substance to

increase one's sharpness, induce calmness and elevate

one's mood there are more negative aspects of nicotine

intake than positive. Among these the most common side

effects of nicotine intake are an increased risk of

hypertension and heart attacks. It is sad that every

cigarette that a man smokes reduces his life span by 14

years. Moreover since nicotine has been found to affect

the working of Estrogen on hippocampus, hence in the

long run nicotine users are prone to amnesia and other

related diseases.



8. Toxicity



Nicotine is considered to be more toxic than most

common drugs like heroin and cocaine. More harm is

done by nicotine to the human body because it is readily

absorbed by the bloodstream and reaches the brain

through the lungs within 7 seconds of its intake either

orally or as nicotine patches.



9. Use of nicotine in medical science



Though nicotine is not a doctor's best friend, it is yet not

his worst foe. Nicotine known for its pain relieving

properties is being researched upon to be used as a

potential pain killer minus its harmful effects. Nicotine

has also been found to reduce preeclampsia, allergic

asthma; among others by acting as an anti-inflammatory

agent.



10. Nicotine in literature



Nicotine has been personified in popular literature as

Nick O' Teen, a humanoid villainous character in

Superman comics which was created as a part of anti-

nicotine drive to educate children about the ill-effects of

nicotine intake in any form.



Lindsay is an anti-smoking advocate and expert. She has

helped hundreds of people quit smoking and improve

their lifestyle. "One of the best methods I use to help

people quit smoking is by using the latest and most

advanced smoking alternative devices. It works 90

percent of the time," says Lindsay during an interview.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?

expert=Lindsay_M_Fox

A New Year, Lung Detox, And a New You

Opportunity For A Healthy Change, Or Same Old Same Old?

So here we are, a few weeks into 2013. Has anything changed for you? A new year is supposed to be brimming with new opportunities, isn't it? Have a quick look around. See any? If you do, congratulations, you are either very fortunate or are already working toward the sort of future you want. But for the rest of us, we need to make some decisions and start working toward what we want. And now we have the lucidity of being sober (compared to New Year's Eve), and are over the holidays and back into our real lives, we should have the clarity of the everyday to make some lasting resolutions to create the sort of future we want. Care to join me?

But How Do I Make The Future That I Want - Right Now?

It's very important when thinking about the sort of future you want, that you actually visualize yourself, being the way you want to be, in that future. This will give you a goal to aspire to, and when you are in the 'lows,' threatening to give it all in (and let's face it, we've all been there), you can remember back to your vision of yourself being the way you want to be, and hang onto that goal. That's where you want to be. That's WHAT you want to be. No one is going to get you there but you, because it's your goal, so you have to do it. And keeping that in mind, push through and keep going.

But there will be times that you falter, step off the path, slip back a bit. There are very few of us that achieve exactly what we want without going through a bit of 2 steps forward, 1 back. The important thing is what you do at those times. Do you give up, having 'failed' somehow? Do you distract yourself, by shopping, or drinking, or some other 'comfort' activity? Whatever you do when you have this sort of breakdown on the road to your goals, ask yourself 'Is what I am doing now getting me any closer to my goal?' If the answer is 'no,' then you need to change what you are doing! Next time you 'step back,' catch yourself wandering off to distract yourself, forgive yourself your weakness, and get back in the horse. It's the only way to get to where you want to be.

That is because the only place you can make any changes in your life is now. Right now. Now is all we have. But if you visualize yourself in the future being the way you want to be, that future will eventually become your now, and you will 'live into' what you have created for yourself. However, you can't ignore the simple fact that nothing worth doing is inherently easy. Notice I added 'inherently' to that old platitude? That's because the things worth doing become a LOT easier and more achievable with access to the right information. Information is power; the power to reach your goals and be the person you want to be.

Getting The Right Information Is Crucial

If you've quit smoking recently or plan/want to start down that road in the near future, then you will maximize your results with the right information; that is, to stay quit and detoxify your lungs as quickly and safely as possible. I always feel so fortunate that Mark Freeman and I have been able to research and gather the right, crucial information on this topic and are able to share it with you, at a great price when you consider how much you'd spend, even over a week, on the dreaded cigarettes.


Our flagship product, The Complete Lung Detoxification Guide Series is all about giving you the knowledge you need, and the preparation tips to maximize your chances of success. We do this with a straightforward lung detox and the tools necessary to stay quit, or a quit program and lung detox. It's all included. Now the Guides themselves give you a wealth of information that will help make your Lung Detox quick and highly successful (several months rather than up to 10 years), as well as a mass of Quit help, Stress Reduction tips, and Motivation methods that should hold you in good stead as you create that new future and work your way into it.

So sit down, make some plans, and start creating that future you want for you, right now. I wish you all the very best of good fortune in the endeavor!