Media Coverage

The ongoing flurry of marijuana legislation, court cases and cannabis-based products makes it difficult for HR professionals to craft policies that meet their company's drug-testing needs. The significant differences in state-by-state rules, definitions and interpretations of recreational and medical marijuana products have only added to the potential confusion. People in U.S. states that legalized recreational cannabis use it 20 percent more frequently than people in other states, according to a 2022 study in the journal Addiction. Nationwide, 4.4 percent of workers failed tests that Quest Diagnostics processed in 2020, up from 3.5 percent in 2012. The rate was slightly higher in states where adults are allowed to buy recreational marijuana.

Alzheimer’s disease is devastating to both patients and their families and caregivers. And while there are better means to diagnosis Alzheimer’s today, in many cases, it is only determined after symptoms become apparent. Today, about 6 million Americans are struggling with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. That number is expected to more than double by mid-century. In a wide-ranging discussion about the disease with CLP, Michael Racke, MD, medical director of neurology for Quest Diagnostics, outlines a new test that can help spot Alzheimer’s and other dementias earlier, what that means for treatment options, and how it could help transform Alzheimer’s into a manageable condition and not a death sentence for patients.

Dr. Mark Kruzel, MD, MBA, Associate Medical Director of Oncology at Quest Diagnostics, shares how the pathology-oncology care team can work together more closely to leverage the true power of precision therapies.

As the number of cannabis-friendly states across the U.S. has grown, so, too, has the drug's usage among American workers. An annual analysis from Quest Diagnostics medical lab and testing company shows the percentage of general U.S. employees, who tested positive for cannabis in 2022 reached the highest level ever recorded by Quest, which began analyzing annual workplace drug testing data in 1988.

As legal marijuana expands in the U.S., a record share of workers is testing positive for the substance in workplace drug screening. Overall drug use among workers tested by employers generally held steady last year, according to an annual tally from Quest Diagnostics, one of the country’s largest drug-testing laboratories. In drug tests given to workers after accidents on the job, marijuana positives rose sharply last year, hitting the highest level in a quarter-century.