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The rate of workforce drug positivity hit a fourteen-year high in 2018, according to a new analysis released today by Quest Diagnostics. Positivity rates in the combined U.S. workforce increased nearly 5% in urine drug tests (4.2% in 2017 versus 4.4% in 2018), climbing to the highest level since 2004 (4.5%) and are now more than 2% higher than the thirty-year low of 3.5% recorded between 2010 and 2012. The new findings of the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™ were unveiled on April 11 at the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) annual conference in Chicago.

Last year saw the highest percentage of positive workplace drug tests since 2004, with 4.4% of American workers showing traces of drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines, opiates, cocaine, and heroin in their systems, according to the results of a new study published Wednesday. Key findings from a Quest Diagnostics analysis.

The rate of American workers testing positive in workplace drug tests hit a 14-year high in 2018, driven by an uptick in marijuana use, a new analysis found. Last year, 4.4% of workers and job applicants tested positive for drugs, a 5% increase over 2017 and the highest mark since 2004, according to an analysis of more than 10 million workplace drug tests released Thursday by Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest drug-testing laboratories in the country. Despite the increase, the rate remains significantly lower than that in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when rates were in the double digits.

The rate of workforce drug positivity hit a 14-year high in 2018, according to analysis released today by drug-testing firm Quest Diagnostics. Positivity rates in urine drug tests in the combined US workforce rose to 4.4% in 2018, up from 4.2% in 2017. This is the highest level since 4.5% in 2004 and higher than the 30-year low of 3.5% recorded between 2010 and 2012.

The rate of positive drug tests among U.S. workers hit a 14-year high last year with marijuana topping the list of most commonly detected illicit substances, an analysis released today by Quest Diagnostics shows. Ten states and the District of Columbia have OK’d recreational marijuana for adults, and in more than half of all states medical marijuana is legal. The state initiatives pose problems for employers and mariners — or potential mariners — who may use marijuana when not at work. Federal law still considers marijuana illegal, so weed is off limits for those in safety-sensitive jobs under Coast Guard and Department of Transportation (DOT) jurisdiction.

The number of U.S. workers who tested positive for marijuana and other drugs jumped to a 14-year high in 2018, according to the drug-testing laboratory Quest Diagnostics Inc. Quest Diagnostics found that 2.3 percent of 10 million urine, saliva and hair samples from U.S. workers tested positive for marijuana in 2018, a 10-percent increase over the prior year. About 4.4 percent of samples contained some kind of illegal or legal drug, a 14-year high, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Marijuana use is increasing among US workers as more states legalize the drug for recreational and medical consumption, a new study from Quest Diagnostics found. The rate of US workers and job applicants who tested positive for all drugs - including opiates, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana - hit a fourteen year high last year, the study found based on an analysis of nearly 9 million urine tests.

Most employers in New York City would no longer be able to force job applicants to take drug tests for marijuana use, under a bill overwhelmingly approved this week by the City Council. If the drug-screening law is enacted, it would put New York in relatively uncharted territory. Several drug policy and employment experts said that they did not know of similar laws on the books, even in states that have legalized marijuana. Quest Diagnostics, one of the nation’s largest medical testing companies, released data on Thursday that said that marijuana use had risen among United States workers in 2018. An analysis of more than 10 million drug-test results showed that 2.3 percent of the American work force tested positive for marijuana use in 2018, up from 2 percent a year earlier.

More American workers are testing positive for marijuana, a new report finds, as lawmakers in New Jersey and Illinois push to join nearly a dozen more states where recreational use of the drug is now legal. The number of workers and job applicants who tested positive for marijuana climbed 10% last year to 2.3%, according to an analysis of 10 million urine, saliva and hair samples by Quest Diagnostics Inc., one the nation’s largest drug-testing laboratories. The Quest data, which is set to be released Thursday, found 4.4% of the analyzed samples contained traces of both legal and illegal controlled substances including pot, prescription painkillers and other drugs—the highest such rate since 2004.

The rate of U.S. general workforce drug positivity hit a 14-year high in 2018, according to a new drug testing analysis released April 11 by Quest Diagnostics. Positivity rates in the combined U.S. workforce increased nearly 5% in urine drug tests, from 4.2% in 2017 to 4.4% in 2018, climbing to the highest level since 2004 (4.5%). They now are more than 25% higher than the 30-year low of 3.5% recorded each year from 2010-12.