Dot Drug Testing-Drugs Tested For By Federal Law

Posted by AmandaTom on September 10th, 2012

In the United States, drug tests have become a major deal. Every federal employee must submit to a drug test, and since 1991 anyone that operates some mode of safety transportation must also submit to DOT drug testing. This includes airlines, trains, and everything in between. For many of these, a DOT drug testing consortium is needed.

In 1991, the US federal government passed the Omnibus Transportation Act. This law requires drug and alcohol testing of anyone involved in the transportation field: pilots, train operators, semi-truck drivers, city buses, and so on. Overall, this is regulated by the Department of Transportation, or DOT, who is the one that sets the standards. By constitutional right, states have the ability to decide the punishment for breaking the laws associated with using drugs or being over the legal alcohol limit.

DOT drug testing regulations mandate that the employees in the various transportation fields must pass testing for five different drugs: marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and phencyclidine (PCP). They are typically tested for by urine samples or the hair follicle. A DOT drug testing consortium between a company and a service that provides testing is not uncommon. Many corporate companies in any industry typically require a drug test before actually hiring an individual. Even public schools have taken to performing various drug tests on students.

The reason behind requiring DOT drug testing is simple: the people who work in these fields need to be clear-headed so they can focus on their jobs. While one of the stimulant drugs such as cocaine or amphetamine might wake up a sleepy pilot, the side effects can be seriously debilitating and many drugs cause hallucinations or paranoia. No one would want their children being driven to school by a bus driver who is all tuned up on PCP, one of the worst drugs there is. PCP is the drug involved with stories like “Some man started shooting a gun in public, went nuts, four different cops emptied their entire clip into him because he wouldn’t stop with just one bullet” type thing. It overrides the entire body and will not let it quite until the body is no longer capable of operating.

A DOT drug testing consortium is handy to have as well, as many of these types of services offer MRO services, or a medical review officer to double check the results. The reason for doing this is because some of the results from DOT drug testing can actually turn up positive for drugs that have been legally prescribed to an individual. For instance, amphetamine is used for the ADHD medication Adderall. There are opiates in many pain killers, such as morphine. These are legally prescribed drugs that might make a person test positive. If this is the case, the MRO can talk to the person and their doctor to determine whether the result was caused by the illegal drug or a prescription.

To set up an appointment for a DOT drug testing screen at one of 10,000 centres across the US, please visit DOT drug testing consortium and DOT drug testing