Highest drug positivity rate in twenty years

According to a new Quest Diagnostic Study Analyzing workplace drug test results in 2021, employers recorded the highest rate of positive drug test results in twenty years. The study was based on more than 11 million urine, hair and saliva drug tests collected in the calendar year 2021. Of the seventeen industries tracked, all except mining have seen an increase in overall positivity rates from 2017 to 2021. Although overall positivity rates have increased by only 1.8% since 2020, they were 12% higher than in 2017 and have increased steadily over the past five last years.

Unsurprisingly, the rates of positive marijuana tests continue to rise. Positive urine tests for marijuana have reached the highest rate ever. In five years, marijuana positivity in the general American workforce has increased by 50%. Positive marijuana test results doubled or more than doubled in six of the seventeen industries tracked: transportation and warehousing; Finance and Insurance; Utilities; accommodation and catering services; Retail business; and Professional, scientific and technical services. Accommodation and food services topped the lists with a 7.5% marijuana positivity rate.

The retail industry recorded the highest overall drug positivity rate at 7% and also saw a 55.6% increase in positive methamphetamine drug tests between 2017 and 2021.

Encouragingly, positivity rates for heroin and other opioids over the past year have declined or remained the same across all workforces.

The overall positivity rate for the federally mandated, security-sensitive workforce (which includes federal employees and some transportation industry employees) increased in 2021, with notable increases in positive rates for marijuana, amphetamines and cocaine.

Most concerning, over the past five years, all industries have seen a 17.4% increase in positive pre-employment drug test results and a 26% increase in positive pre-employment drug test results. drugs after an accident. Similarly, in the federally mandated safety-sensitive workforce, pre-employment positivity has increased by 9.5% since 2017, while post-injury positivity has increased by 41.9 % during this period.