Washington, DC —The Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) applauds Kentucky’s Rep. Ed Whitfield, and New York’s Rep. Eliot Engel for: “The National Drug Testing Integrity Act" -- legislation introduced March 8 that will ban products meant to defraud drug tests.   DATIA has long supported a federal solution to ending the manufacture, sale, distribution, and marketing of the products specifically meant to thwart a legal and legitimate drug test, and fully supports the efforts of Rep. Whitfield and Engel.

Allowing such products to remain on the market poses a public safety risk and imposes a serious financial burden on American businesses.

More than 12 million employees are subject to mandatory drug testing under the Department of Transportation because they are in safety-sensitive positions.  These employees include truck drivers, bus drivers, pilots, mass transit operators, railroad engineers, pipeline workers, mariners, and related transportation industry safety sensitive positions such as mechanics and maintenance personnel.  While a percentage of these mandated tests are reported as adulterated or substituted by labs, we can never know how many employees have succeeded in masking their drug use and continue to operate in the transportation industry.  Each drug user poses a serious safety risk to the public. 

Drug use costs American businesses billions annually in terms of tardiness, absenteeism, workers compensation benefits, health benefit utilization, and turnover.  Companies implement drug free workplace programs that include drug testing to help keep these costs down, and keep their employees safe. Taking adulteration and substitution products off the legal market will help American businesses climb out from under this financial burden.

For these reasons DATIA supports HR 4910 to rid the market of products that are meant to thwart a drug test, and looks forward to working with Rep. Whitfield and Engel on the legislation’s swift passage and implementation.

Also see DATIA testimony and background.

Two things you can do today,

1) Write your Member of Congress an email to support the bill!

2) Provide feedback and information for the sponsors of the legislation on the datia forum

###

DATIA is a 1,300-member national trade association representing the full spectrum of drug and alcohol testing service agents including laboratories, collection sites, C/TPAs, BATs, MROs, SAPs, employers, and testing device manufacturers. It certifies more than 8000 specimen collectors and other providers of safety and drug detection and deterrence programs.