In an effort to better protect safety-sensitive federal employees, including truck drivers and other transportation workers, the U.S. Drug Regulators are likely about to announce a plan that includes implementing fentanyl drug testing as part of standard workplace policies for all personnel in highly hazardous jobs. This new move is intended to help identify those who may be misusing dangerous drugs such as fentanyl early on before any serious issues arise due to its usage.
While the planning stages for this change began in 2018, its been awaiting approval by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who need to give the final ruling as well as authorize oral fluid testing and proposed revisions to allow timely changes to drug testing panels.
“The time required to revise the guidelines through the federal review process has impeded the department’s ability to respond to drug use trends,” the proposal said. “Individuals may change their drug use, and illicit drug manufacturers may change their manufacturing methods, to avoid testing positive for drugs included in proposed guidelines, especially as the number of new drugs and drug analogues increases.”
The DOT currently tests truck drivers for drugs ranging from marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine to oxycodone, morphine and ecstasy, but not fentanyl.
“If the proposed method is accepted, HHS expects to add fentanyl to the testing panel as early as the first quarter of 2023, with an implementation date in the second quarter,” said Christoper Garrett, a spokesman for HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
According to HHS, currently, no federal agencies are testing oral fluid specimens, although the board of SAMHSA has been discussing fentanyl issues since 2018. The biggest obstacle is that the drug is often mixed with heroin making it difficult to detect in drug tests. Some experts have reasoned, however, that users could be identified through testing for heroin.
Dating back as far as 2019, Ron Flegel, chairman of the Drug Testing Advisory Board for SAMHSA, notes that the group has forwarded recommendations to HHS that the agency add fentanyl to the list of drugs federal and safety-sensitive workers such as truckers be tested for. HHS took no action at that time.
“When we originally evaluated fentanyl, there seemed to be multiple mixtures of fentanyl with other drugs,” Flegel said. “I think that is changing over time. Now you see a lot more fentanyl by itself and/or mixed in as a contamination product of other drugs.”
Flegel added, “Specifically, as we try to move forward around the testing of synthetic opioids, I think that people that are illicitly using those drugs are moving in new directions, and some of that is due to cost and other issues.”
Ten fentanyl-related substances are currently placed on the DEA’s Schedule I of the Controlled Substance Act, which categorizes substances depending on the drug’s acceptable medical use and the abuse or dependency potential.
According to a recent report from the DEA, illegal fentanyl use is a rapidly growing issue. In a Dec. 20 release, the agency said in 2022 it seized more than 50.6 million fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. The DEA laboratory estimates that the seizures represent more than 379 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat facing this country,” the DEA said. “It is a highly addictive man-made opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose.”
Source: ttnews
