Opiates and the New Opium Houses

There was a time when opium houses were all over London and any other major port city which gave sailors and the exotic travelers a break from reality. When we say this, we mean a really…really…long break from reality.

Opium is one of the most psychedelic drugs that you can take, and it is extremely powerful at removing you from your current reality and essentially going on a rollercoaster ride in your own mind. Using past experiences in your life, hidden memories, or just your plain old imagination, opium can take you on a trip that will be so realistic and so touchable, that you will feel as if your senses are really there and that this is not, in fact, a dream after all.

We are not intended the previous paragraph to be in support of opium at all.

Instead, we are trying to explain how powerful the drug is and why many people would choose this form of addiction to other forms which simply take the edge off of your current reality.

Opiates are drugs, sometimes legal pharmaceuticals, which have opium based components, and therefore give the abuser a very diluted version of real opium. Workplace drug testing is mean to help businesses understand who may be abusing these substances on a regular basis and who has real prescriptions for such things. Mediscreen, a NATA accredited medical testing company, specializes onsite drug and alcohol screening, and we are very interested in protecting the Australian business community from any potential threat from anyone who might be abusing opium or opium based drugs.

Alcohol drug testing is meant to reveal data about specific or common drugs and to be used by businesses on a regular basis to help out their other employees evaluative measures. However, when it comes to real opium or anything that carries strong opium qualities, the sooner identified the better. Drug& alcohol testing is meant to deliver data and this is something about which everyone should be informed if their employees are delving into this stuff. By removing the mind completely from reality, employees can really be a danger to themselves or to others and not even know it at the time. For more information regarding onsite drug & alcohol testing services, call Mediscreen today.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/opiates-and-the-new-opium-houses/

How Habits of Failure are Bred

Failure is an interesting concept which many people understand but which few have knowledge of with regard to how much of it is in their own lives. For example, you may consider not cleaning out your garage to be failure, but you may also not be aware of the fact that you set yourself up for failure by always seeing that project as more and more failure that you are piling on top of your head. Workplace drug testing laws were implemented for high hazard industries, after all, but they are not required in non-hazardous vocations. People still have freedom of choice and a lot of people choose to breed habits of failure within themselves.

Now, when you make it easy to succeed, in your own mind, then you begin easily acquiring success in your life. It doesn’t take much to succeed when you set your bar fairly low, and setting the bar low does NOT mean that you have low standards. Remember, you can still achieve as much as you want to achieve in life. However, when you are thinking about success itself, the word, the concept, the idea, make sure that you make it easy on yourself to achieve success every day. A famous business man, a friend of Kevin Trudeau, would play golf with him and, no matter how bad his shots were, he would turn back to Kevin smiling just as brightly as the sun. Finally, Kevin asked him why he was so happy when he was making all of these bad shots. The man said, “As long as the ball moves forward, I’ve succeeded.”

That man made it easy upon himself to succeed and to feel successful. If only we all had that kind of attitude about our lives. As long as everyone is alive, warm, well fed, and reasonably satisfied with life at the end of the day, then the family has been successful.

Mediscreen bring workplace drug testing to your business, and we make it easy for you to succeed. All you have to do is schedule an appointment with us, we will come to your worksite or workplace environment, we will do drug screening and alcohol testing for your employees, and then you are done! It’s easy, it’s accurate, and we would be honored to have you as a client.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/how-habits-of-failure-are-bred/

Hopes and Dreams

Hopes and dreams are common in all of our childhoods. Unfortunately, adults seem to have forgotten that reality is the same as whatever we’re concentrating on, which is perhaps why children are a lot happier than adults.

Children concentrate on their hopes and dreams, giving great purpose to believing in themselves and all of the things they want to be when they grow up. Life is full of possibilities, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. We, as adults, often find ourselves drifting in and out of nightmares, maybe, but rarely dreams. Why is this so?

A lot of it is trained in us by the previous generation of adults. At some point, they want us to be able to deal with “reality” and so they make some attempt at vanishing all of our hopes and dreams and putting some practical common sense in our heads. But children, despite being told that they can’t do stuff, steadfastly believe that they can.

That’s the great thing about kids. They know better.

Workplace drug testing is for adults who seek to return to that age, but who cannot seem to get there through any normal means. Listening to a child talk, you can see how personally you take things compared with them. You feel as if you take life way too seriously, when their biggest problems is …well, they just don’t seem to have any problems. Even if they do, they just kind of ignore them and keep going.

Drug abuse and alcoholism are both cries for help. They show the people around them that they are in psychological pain and that they need relief from this pain. Drug and alcohol testing measures how much your workers think like this. Obviously, it can never measure their thoughts, but it can measure how much they’ve been abusing substances, if they even have. Drug testing equipment is high quality, and Mediscreen is accredited by NATA to bring you high quality onsite drug & alcohol testing services, right in your own business. How cool is that? Drug and alcohol testing is about finding answers. Sometimes, these answers can help you guide your employees to better answers. Call Mediscreen today to ask us more about our drug screening services.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/hopes-and-dreams/

Dreading the Experience

Everyone knows that anticipation of something bad is often much worse than the thing we are anticipating. In fact, this is true on a lot of levels. By dreading something or someone, we are putting a scenario into our minds of things which may or may not occur, but our fear twists them into the worst possible scenarios. In fact, dreading the experience is not only likely to make it happen because we are putting our intention out there like that coupled with strong emotion, but it can also drain our bodies and our emotions of any strength with which we would normally face the problems when and if they occur.

Dreading things can really drain you, and not having these emotional resources available to you can be very bad. Now, when you are looking at implementing drug and alcohol testing in your business, you may have some misconceptions about the process. You may have expectations about the process involved, you may overestimate how much your employees will hate it, and you may not recognize when you are being stubborn about an aspect of the situation which everyone else takes for granted.

In truth, drug and alcohol testing is one of the easiest, simplest things to put into your business to give you more confidence in the responsibility and drug-free status of all of your employees. It gives you information and you need this info to be able to make qualified and evidence based hiring and firing decisions. This is one of those times when you do NOT want to rely upon subjective opinion.

Mediscreen makes the drug screening process even easier for your business than most businesses. We screen your employees at your workplace environment. Our onsite drug & alcohol testing services, coupled with our NATA accreditation for urine testing, make us one of the top competitors for drug & alcohol testing in Australia. We come to every business, no matter where they are. Now, don’t dread the experience of implementing screening in your own business. Instead, put all of the hard labor into our hands, let us handle everything, and you will have a huge load off of your shoulders.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/dreading-the-experience/

When Employers Look the Other Way

Some employers turn a blind eye to drugs and alcohol in the workplace and the substance abuse problem plaguing Australia. The fact this can have dire consequences on the health and safety of workers is well understood. However, the consequences of ignoring substance use or abuse in the workplace can also impact management personally by raising risks of lawsuits or even leading to loss of jobs when productivity declines or injury rates increase and harm the company’s brand as well as employee health. This perspective is not often discussed except amongst attorneys and policymakers. When employers look the other way when detecting signs of drugs or alcohol in the workplace, or when they neglect to develop policies and procedures, unexpected consequences can result.

Many employers are reluctant to face the consequences of drugs, and as a result have never bothered to institute a drug and alcohol policy. The case of Doug Smith v BHP Billiton Pty Ltd [2010] FWA 3349 is a good example as to why this is a poor practice. An employee was expecting a substantial redundancy payment, but three days before payment the employee failed an alcohol breath test. As a result, he was dismissed. The employee then filed an unfair dismissal claim claiming the dismissal led to consequences that were “hard, unjust or unreasonable.” The employer defended itself by pointing out the employee had breached the Drug and Alcohol Policy which made it clear a positive test could lead to employment termination. Since the employer could prove the policy existed and the employee was aware of it, the case was dismissed. Practically speaking, businesses that fail to institute a Drug and Alcohol Policy are failing to comply with workplace health and safety standards. Fair Work ruled the employer had a right to take immediate action to protect workplace safety.¹

How to Ignore Substance Abuse and Increase Liability

There are hidden costs to ignoring drugs and alcohol. It is estimated that just alcohol misuse costs over $6 billion per year in lost productivity. ² However, there are other consequences that seldom come up in discussions. There is a concept called “derivative liability” in which staff actions lead to senior managers and board members having liability for those actions. Not developing policy and procedures is just one way employers create personal liability from lack of accountability. Others include:

• Refusing to recognise the high rates of drug and alcohol abuse in Australian society, so not using due diligence in hiring practices
• Ignoring common workplace talk about weekend binges or drug use, so failing to address safety issues as applicable to the workplace
• Not screening job applicants at the pre-employment stage
• Not offering safety training or not including discussions of workplace safety risks introduced with substance abuse
• Not administering a random drug and alcohol program or not rigidly following a testing procedure, sending a message that substance abuse is not a management concern
• Not training supervisors in administration of drug and alcohol procedures that do exist, nor training them in the detection of substances and appropriate responses to workers suspected to be under the influence
• Taking no action when workers test positive for drugs or alcohol, sending a message to workers that it is not important
• Ignoring indications of substance abuse, like drug paraphernalia
• Laughing along with workers discussing weekend parties where substances were used
• Attending after-work pub sessions with subordinates
• Providing free alcoholic drinks at work-related parties or allowing workers to bring their own (then laughing the next day with workers talking about how intoxicated John and Mary were at the party)

Workers will take their cues from management. If management does not enforce a substance free workplace, then there is a high probability that drugs and alcohol are present. If a worker is injured and can prove a co-worker’s drug or alcohol use was a factor, it is assured two things will occur. First, the employer will be held responsible for failing to maintain a safe workplace. Second, a terminated substance abuser will likely be reinstated after proving a workplace culture of tolerance exists. This means the employer is “stuck” with a worker known to be a substance abuser until some incidence happens again.

Running from the Statistics

Employers looking the other way when drugs or alcohol is involved are creating a liability for themselves. It is simply not a good way to run a business. Managers and supervisors can also expect that the statistics will one day catch up with them. As injury rates rise and productivity declines, the board of directors, management, and company brand and reputation are at stake.

With the availability of onsite drug and alcohol screening services available at any location through Mediscreen (mediscreen.net.au), all employers can enforce a substance free workplace policy. Mediscreen has taken the effort out of ensuring the testing process adheres to Australian law and standards and that appropriate documentation is maintained.

 This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/when-employers-look-the-other-way/

New Opiate Called Krokodil Goes Beyond Russian Borders

It is repeated over and over again that new illicit drugs enter the marketplace all the time, and each one seems to be more dangerous. There is simply no way to predict what the drug manufacturers will come up with as they attempt to develop more powerful and appealing drugs. In 2011, the Australian news centers began to report on a new street drug called Krokodil because it was so powerful and so physically damaging that they wanted to warn the public. However, until recently this new type of opioid has been confined to Russia so people did not pay a lot of attention to the report. Now the news is reporting that Krokodil has moved beyond Russia’s shores, and anyone who thinks that Australia will bypass this trend does not fully understand the powerful allure of illicit drugs.

Standard drug tests recognise opioids which means Krokodil is detectable. One of the important characteristics of most illicit drugs is that they rely on ingredients like opioids, cannabis, amphetamines or their derivatives, hallucinogens, cocaine, and others. Many of the new street drugs appearing are variations of currently used drugs, which means current alcohol testing will detect them. Though there are synthetic drugs able to pass drug detection, the reality is that the traditional ingredients of original street drugs are the most powerful and thus the most popular.

A New Devastating High

In September 2011 a video and transcript was posted on the ABC News–Australia website that addressed the staggering illegal drug use in Russia and the appearance of Krokodil. Sadly, it was reported that Russia had over two million drug addicts using a variety of illegal drugs and was now dealing with a very dangerous homemade drug called Krokodil. Not a lot of people were paying attention because the drug was confined to Russia. Krokodil is a cheap, homemade cooked drug called desomorphine. This dangerous injected drug creates serious skin problems that begin at the point of injection. Actually, using the word ‘serious’ understates the devastating consequences of Krokodil.

The name ‘Krokodil’ is the Russian version of ‘crocodile.’ This drug is named after the reptile for a good reason. When krokodil is injected, it has a terrible impact on the skin. At the site of injection, the skin gets scaly and begins to rot. Addicts also say that whatever health condition already exist are made worse by the drug. Krokodile requires a drug cooking process that takes longer than preparing heroin. However, it uses codeine (an opiate) as its main ingredient which is readily available in pharmaceuticals. This makes the drug cheap and appealing to addicts. One of the problems with desomorphine is that people become drug-dependent much quicker than they did on traditional drugs like heroin. The other lure of this drug is the fact it is so much cheaper than heroin.¹

Cooking a Recipe for Death

The Krokodile drug cookers add a variety of ingredients like gasoline, iodine, alcohol, and oil. Chemical reactions needed to produce the drug are started by using ingredients like acid or the ingredients are boiled and filtered. The name ‘crocodile’ is due to the scaly, reptile-like flesh that develops beginning at the point of the injection and spreading around the body in reaction to the poisonous components of the drug. It is difficult to even look at a picture of someone who has been using Krokodile because their skin is literally rotting on the body.

Krokodile has been confined to Russia until recently. Crime commissions have been watching and waiting for Krokodile to show up in other countries. The United States is the first country to verify cases of Krokodile, which was in Arizona. When Krokodile is used over and over again, it causes blood vessels to burst, leading to gangrene.² The physical effects of this drug are almost too horrible to describe. In addition, the “high” only lasts about 90 minutes so drug users need to frequently repeat injections. Krokodile users have a very short lifespan of 2 to 3 years.

Urine and alcohol drug testing can detect opioids. Even if Krokodile is not in Australia (yet), employers may serve as interveners for drug users who are most likely to try the next “new thing.” Detecting drugs and alcohol via random testing programs will reveal who is using illicit substances, and employers can then direct the person to helpful resources. It is one of the best hopes Australia has for keeping this devastating drug from becoming an Australian nightmare.

Mediscreen (mediscreen.net.au) provides onsite drug & alcohol testing support services. Rigidly adhering to a drug and alcohol testing program is an important step in maintaining a safe and healthy workplace and could save one or more lives.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/new-opiate-called-krokodil-goes-beyond-russian-borders/

Educate...Don't Bombard...Workers with D&A Information

Way back in the 1960s, people use to say “turn on and tune out”, referring to using drugs and forgetting all the world’s cares. Taking that old expression and giving it a new twist produces, “bombard and tune out.” Bombarding people with the same message over and over again becomes an ineffective communication strategy in the workplace. Human nature is such that regularly hearing dire warnings offering no context on a routine basis turns important messages into ones that are tuned out. Drug and alcohol education programs in the workplace need to be structured to do exactly what the description implies – educate workers and in a way that makes sense to them.

Employers can learn a lot from studies conducted to determine the effects of media on listener attitudes towards illicit drugs. The public is bombarded on a daily basis with news media reports covering a range of topics. Though the message is often intended to produce positive results, the opposite can happen. For example, media reporting on violence that is meant to inform and warn people can desensitise them towards violence instead. The question is whether bombarding people with information about illicit drugs and drug activity desensitises them to the dangers of using the substances. Do people quit listening? Does information overload change attitudes towards illicit drugs as to their risks and acceptability? If so, is the change good or bad?

Framing a Relevant Message

A study conducted involving teenagers and young adults, many of whom are employed, indicated that how a message is framed influences decision making. Media messages influence the formation of opinions and reinforcement of concepts, partly because younger people do not have life experiences to provide personal context. However, all people are influenced by media to some degree. New information merges with people’s existing beliefs, and attitudes emerge from the mix. For young adults, the existing attitudes have developed mostly as a result of interactions with parents and peers.¹ Older adults have life experiences to fall back on and hear messages with more solidified beliefs and attitudes. Pre-existing beliefs play a large role in determining how someone interprets a message, which is why workplace drug and education programs get the message across more successfully with some people than others.

Non-users of illicit drugs rely on news media, or other sources like employer education programs, for their information, and these sessions have a great influence on shaping attitudes about risks of drug use. On the other hand, those who have previously tried illicit drugs are likely to be more intrigued by news media reports about a new illicit drug hitting the streets. Therefore, how a message is composed will influence its final impact. For example, people who are regular weekend partiers and regularly mix drugs and alcohol will tune out an education program if it appears to be out of touch with the reality of polydrug use and talks about binge drinking and illicit drug taking as separate events to be treated separately. Credibility of information is critical. Studies have also indicated that many younger people will take media messages at face value, whilst older people need hard facts and research to change their attitudes or beliefs. This harkens back to the previous point noted that people’s attitudes are formed through life experiences, and it is difficult to overcome what people have witnessed, experienced, read and watched for years.²

Talking About the Right Things

Telling workers over and over again that “thou shall not take drugs or drink alcohol at work” is not an effective education program. One of the conclusions reached is that there is a greater chance of deterring teenagers and young adults from workplace drug use by including the impact of drug use in messaging. Instead of just talking about the legal issues or the possibility of job termination if caught using drugs, the employer can include information about cannabis psychosis and how that effect risks workplace safety. However, for workers of any age, changing existing behaviours and attitudes relies on a regular education program that explains how drugs (and alcohol) impact the health and welfare of employees and the workplace, and how substance abuse increases the risk of harm.³

Regular education does not mean bombarding people with messages, hanging anti-drug posters all over the place, or sending emails every day that end up getting deleted. It means consistent delivery of useful, relevant, and realistic information that workers can contextualise and internalise. Each workplace is different, and employers need to adapt their messages to the audience.

Mediscreen (mediscreen.net.au) works with employers to ensure they understand drug and alcohol testing procedures, the substances that can be tested, and documentation requirements. The first step in educating employees is educating the management and supervisory staff.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/educate-dont-bombard-workers-with-da-information/

What Drives Workers to Keep Using Drugs…Even When it Means Loss of Livelihood

Illicit drug use is isolating, which is one reason why the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL) was formed. The peer-based organisation has a message that it does not matter what opinion people have about those who use drugs; they just need to accept the reality that a large number of Australians are drug users. The reason the organisation takes that stand is because it believes people are driven away from seeking help due to societal shame.¹ In the workplace, the shame of addiction stops people from asking for access to resources like Employee Assistance Programs. Instead, they wait until a random drug or alcohol testing returns a positive result and then either ask for help or deny there is a problem.

The statistics support the AIVL’s premise concerning the number of drug users, and the problem is not confined to Australia. A report issued by the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy says that, “In countries like Australia, the UK and the USA, a significant proportion of the population develop an addiction to alcohol (8-15 percent) and illicit drugs (4-6 percent).”² The report also points out that addiction is a pattern of behaviour marked by a person using drugs despite knowing the harm it can cause. In fact, some drug users do express a desire to quit using drugs, but they cannot seem to help themselves. In many cases, continued drug use leads to the loss of a job.

Expanding List of Addiction Theories

What drives workers to follow a pattern of behaviour that is likely to lead to job loss and thus their ability to support their family or themselves? There are people who just simply do not care about consequences and act in a reckless manner, but that is generally not true for people with a drug dependency. Drug dependence is defined by the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association as a situation in which taking drugs is compulsive behaviour and requires a lot of a person’s time to the detriment of their other roles as parents or workers. Drug abuse leads to loss of employment, creates a burden on society, and negatively impacts relationships. So the question remains: Why are more and more people using illicit drugs and jeopardising their livelihoods?

There have been a number of theories advanced as to why people continue using drugs despite knowing it could cost them their jobs and that they are putting co-workers in harm’s way. Briefly, they include the following:³

• Hedonic – the pleasurable effects of using drugs serves as positive reinforcement for continuing their use

• Withdrawal – people continue using drugs to avoid experiencing withdrawal symptoms

• Self-medication – drugs are used to deal with negative emotions like depression or anxiety

• Self-control – addiction results from a failure to self-regulate which can be due to deficits in reasoning, attention, information processing, and so on

• Associative learning and habit – positive reinforcement from drugs leads to learning ingrained habits; presentation of drugs eventually elicits strong emotional cravings

• Incentive sensitisation – drugs produce changes in the motivation and reward systems in the brain, making the regions hypersensitive to drug use; continue drug use leads to a heightened value of the drug use and cravings are produced (shift from drug-liking to drug craving takes place)

• Allostasis – opposing brain systems try to stay in equilibrium and continued drug use produces a pathological shift in the hedonic set point and causes dysregulation of the brain reward system; leads to loss of control over drug use and compulsion to use drugs

• Executive control dysregulation - chronic drug use dysregulates active in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, leading to deficits in decision-making and a reduced ability to control desire for drugs and to control behaviour

Books have been written on each one of these theories. The list of theories gives only the briefest explanations, but it shows that even medical researchers continue to struggle with explaining drug dependency.

Knowledge Leads to Better Program Management

Employers administering random drug and alcohol tests are concerned with the safety and health of the workforce. They are usually not thinking about research theories. However, the more employers know about drug addiction, the more equipped they are to manage an effective drug and alcohol program. The scientists are getting closer to pinpointing the specific biological changes that lead to addiction, but clearly some theories believe there are people who simply choose to use drugs because they like the effects. Whatever the motivation for abusing substances, illicit drugs and alcohol have no place in the workplace.

Mediscreen at mediscreen.net.au offers a NATA accredited national onsite drug and alcohol screening service. Every workplace location should be kept substance free, and Mediscreen’s quality services help employers across industries achieve that goal.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/what-drives-workers-to-keep-using-drugseven-when-it-means-loss-of-livelihood/

Using Social Media to Reinforce Drug Policy & Procedures

The workplace is an ideal place for sending a drug free message because employees are a captive audience, so to speak. Today’s workforce is multi-generational, so employer messages reach all age groups. One of the most important messages an employer delivers is the drug and alcohol policy and the procedures for policy enforcement. In the past, employers had to print and distribute documents and then hold periodic workshops to train and develop employees. Now there is increasing use of social media in the workplace for worker training and development, and that is just as applicable to the drug and alcohol policy and procedures. However, social media takes policy integration and reinforcement to a higher level.

Broadcasting the Right Message

Social media networks that are internal and external to the business become integral to operations. They are used to promote a business brand, build a reputation, and communicate with stakeholders. However, they can also be used as a means of communication between employers and employees, and between co-workers. This makes social media a powerful tool for promoting a substance free workplace. A drug free workplace then contributes to brand quality by reducing worker error rates and increasing productivity. There are now many ways to use social media to deliver the right message on drugs and alcohol:

• Producing short YouTube videos in which senior level managers talk about the importance of keeping drugs and alcohol out of the workplace
• Posting online videos discussing the drug and alcohol policy and procedures and documenting when each employee views them to ensure all workers are participating in training
• Posting reminders on intranets that workers must accept responsibility for safe behaviours in the workplace
• Developing an Employee Resource Group that addresses drugs and alcohol and allows members to communicate via an internal social media network
• Posting policy and procedure updates on the company-wide social media networks that are used by workers as a source of information
• Using sites like Facebook to reinforce the company’s commitment to maintaining a substance free workplace, thus promoting positive public relations
• Starting a discussion forum to encourage workers to discuss methods for improving workplace safety and to ask questions concerning drug and alcohol related health and safety issues
• Developing an online workshop all employees can access to share information about healthy lifestyles in and out of the workplace
• Holding online celebration events where people can affirm their commitment to living a substance free life
• Tweeting links to updated health and safety information related to drugs and alcohol

Reinforcing the Right Message

These are just a few ways a business can use social media networks to strengthen its drug and alcohol program. Training workers once a year is not adequate anymore given the pervasiveness of substance abuse. The random drug and alcohol testing done throughout the year is a critical component of maintaining a substance free workplace. However, regular reinforcement of the policies, procedures and benefits that testing brings to all workers is an important step in the success of the overall program.²

Drug alcohol testing can end up being viewed as a management punishment tool rather than a means of protecting worker safety and health. Social media makes it easy to send out regular top-down messages that inform people of the current policy and procedures, update employees on the hazards of substance abuse, congratulate the workforce on supporting a drug-free environment, and so on. In other words, social media can help management send a positive rather than negative message about drug and alcohol programs. It serves as an employee engagement tool when structured appropriately.

Drug & alcohol testing programs do not have to be viewed as a disciplinary tool by employees, and effective use of social media can be an important strategy in creating the right workplace mindset. The reinforcement strategies can be combined with Mediscreen’s (mediscreen.net.au) efficient drug and alcohol screening services to promote a substance free workplace. Mediscreen are a NATA accredited company offering the highest levels of testing and service.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/using-social-media-to-reinforce-drug-policy-procedures/

Sober Drinking Knowledge Dissipates While Intoxicated

Life is full of mysteries, and one of them is particularly puzzling. Why do people continue to drink and drive when they know it can lead to serious consequences? Why do so many Australians make such a bad decision in their personal and work lives? The answer is not simple because they are motivated to act irrationally for many reasons. Past scientific research reported that alcohol has an impact on perceptions of what constitutes risky behaviours. However, the studies were conducted on people who were not drinking. A new study not only confirms the past studies, but has even more validity because it compares perceptions whilst drinking to perceptions whilst sober.

Misperceptions Lead to Bad Decisions

In the upcoming publication of the 2014 journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, the studies will show that people deciding to drive whilst inebriated are influenced by the alcohol in the area of decision-making. They have poor judgment, less self-control and make different decisions than they would whilst sober.¹ The person who drinks and drives may know and recognise the dangers of this combination whilst sober, and even talk about how important it is to not drink and drive. Yet, many of these same people will down a few drinks or sneak alcohol at work and then drive. Though it would seem to make common sense that a person who is drunk would make poor decisions, prior studies have not concentrated on proving the inebriated person is actually makes different decisions than they would make if sober.

There are several implications of this study. For example, if public service messages target sober people, are they really effective? How effective is the traditional employer education program on alcohol use in the workplace? These are the important questions being asked. The researchers point out that people who reach their peak BAC and then experience a declining BAC may decide it is safe to drive. When employers have workplace parties and encourage drinking, it would seem they are also contributing to the process of poor decision-making that goes on when a person is not sober. The only conclusion so far from this new study is that people need the skills and awareness to apply knowledge about drinking and driving, even whilst alcohol impaired. This would suggest that workplace education programs that reinforce good decision-making on the use of drugs and alcohol certainly are important.

Cannot Predict Poor Decision-Making

Drink Wise pointed out in a response to a call for comments by National Drug Strategy 2010-2015 Consultation that alcohol is responsible for more road accidents than any other factor in Australia. One out of every four fatal accidents involves drivers or passengers who exceed the legal BAC limit.² It is important for the researchers to continue their studies on driving and drinking. However, it is just as important that employers remain diligent in their efforts to educate workers on the dangers. They must continue doing drug and alcohol testing in the workplace because there is simply no way to predict who will be the person to make the wrong decision.

Mediscreen (mediscreen.net.au) provides quality screening services that contribute to drug and alcohol testing programs credibility. Employers should only use reliable, quality drug testing equipment and services to reinforce the importance of their effort.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/sober-drinking-knowledge-dissipates-while-intoxicated/

Hold onto Your Faith

Faith has received a lot of bad publicity as of late. Faith and religion are often intermingled, and so keeping the faith really is considered the same as abiding by the strict guidelines of your religion.

Of course, that is not true.

Faith is a quality which requires a lot more than religious or spiritual belief in order to come to life. Faith can exist between spouses, between employers and employees, between friends, and between siblings. When you have faith that someone will or won’t do something, then you are exercising this unfathomable quality.

When someone is hurt by a loved one or a close friend, they can begin to see loss of faith in other areas of their lives as well. The phenomenon seems to compound on itself and they can reach a really big slump in their faith. They no longer believe in people, in things, in situations, or in security.

Of course, that is not true, either. Only one aspect of their lives changed, but their perspective decided to notice change in other parts of their lives, as well. It is only their perception, not their reality, which was altered.

The business world is not so forgiving of such mistakes when faith is lost. If someone becomes unreliable to one business, then word of mouth can spread like wildfire and every business can believe that they are a liability or a risk in some way. Business needs faith in order to be held together and in order to network with other businesses in the marketplace as a whole.

Faith is crucial when it comes to drug testing. Yes, we know that sounds like an oxymoron, but let us explain. Faith ensures that people are, indeed, screen by employee drug testing. Without faith, judgments about people’s attitudes and behaviors are actually high subjective and judgment can be passed and executed without anyone receiving a fair or proper trial. This is what makes drug test kits and alcohol tests so necessary in today’s world. They help us to have faith, because nobody argues with science and with scientific data. For drug test equipment.

This article has been taken from : http://www.cmm.com.au/articles/hold-onto-your-faith/

Progressive Indications of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Discussions on the signs and symptoms of drugs and alcohol abuse can lead employers to believe that the physical and behavioural changes are immediately obvious. Just the fact workers test positive for substances during random drug and alcohol testing, to the great surprise of co-workers and the employer, is a good indication that some people are good at hiding their problems. People normally do not drink or use an illicit drug and suddenly become addicted. It is a process with progressively worsening signs and symptoms. Without drug and alcohol testing, an employer may not discover a worker has a problem until it is too late. The worker experiences an injury, makes a scene, has a life-threatening episode, threatens a co-worker, or otherwise exhibits extreme emotions and behaviours. Until that point in time, few or no signs may be noticeable. It is just one more reason why drug and alcohol testing programs are so important.

The progressive signs of substance abuse may be fairly rapid or quite slow. A lot depends on the person. Almost all addictive drugs directly or indirectly increase the release of dopamine by the brain’s neurons. However, though the pace of progression is unique to each person, one thing is certain: The vast majority of people will experience increasingly worse physical, behavioural, and emotional symptoms.

One of the most interesting findings by researchers is that there is a poor correlation between states of pleasure, as described by the substance abuser, and the actual drug use. This is another way of saying a person taking larger and larger amounts of drugs do not report feeling more pleasure. In fact, the more drugs taken, the less euphoric the experience, according to drug addicts.¹ This is one of the progression symptoms of a chronic drug user, though it may not be apparent to the employer or co-workers at first. What happens is that the person takes larger amounts of drugs in a search for the euphoria once felt, and that will eventually cause physical and mental issues.

Correlating Substance Abuse and Job Performance

The typical progression of substance addiction is fairly well known. People at first use the drugs to relieve periodic stress or to see what it is like to “get high.” As the person continues using the drugs or alcohol, he or she begins to sneak its use, experiences bouts of depression, and starts to lose interest in normal activities. As the addiction takes hold, the person will refuse to talk about drugs or alcohol, cannot seem to stop its use, starts eating poorly, and begins to isolate from others. Finally, the addict becomes fixated on the drug or alcohol addiction and blames everyone else for their problems.

How does this progression correlate to job performance decline? Assume someone has a good job performance history, gets along well with others, and is dependable. When that person starts using drugs and alcohol on a routine basis, the visible signs and symptoms are in comparison to normal behaviour. In the early phase, the worker will begin to make more mistakes, start being late to work, and begins to have problems with co-workers. The lies start almost immediately. The employer may suspect something is wrong fairly quickly because employees who lie are often caught in those lies.

In the next phase of substance abuse, job performance continues to decline. The normal work pace is not maintained, and the person becomes undependable. To avoid co-workers’ suspicions, the worker begins to avoid contact with them and stops joining groups of workers in the lunch room or stops attending voluntary group activities. A change in attitude is typical with resentments growing. Usually, a substance abuser gets defensive and overreacts to any imagined or real criticism. Someone who has never had money problems may ask to borrow money from co-workers or request a pay advance. As time progresses, the job performance falls far below expectations and the person becomes noticeably agitated at times. The workers disappears for periods of time, takes a lot of time off work, and goes to lunch but does not return. The worker is completely undependable. At this stage, the worker may begin to have legal problems like being stopped for driving whilst drunk or domestic problems that spill over into the workplace. There are signs of aggression. In the late phase of addiction, there are now visible physical signs of deterioration. The employer may discipline the worker for poor job performance but nothing improves. By now there is a good chance the worker is using drugs or alcohol in the workplace. The worker becomes incompetent.^2,3

Recognising the Truth

Employers choosing to adopt drug alcohol testing policy and procedures are recognising that substance use is not always detectable. It may take a while for the drug or alcohol abuse to become evident. In the meantime, the substance abuser is a threat to workplace health and safety, and is creating untold issues concerning job performance and worker relations.

Random drug and alcohol testing is important to every employer and in every employer location. There is no reason to wait for substance abusers to deteriorate to the point where substance abuse is visibly noticeable or work performance is unacceptable. NATA accredited, Mediscreen (mediscreen.net.au) offers expert drug screening services wherever people are working and helps thousands of employers learn about drug or alcohol use in the workplace long before it becomes a problem.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/progressive-indications-of-drug-and-alcohol-abuse/

Wisdom, then Knowledge

It is often argued that knowledge is much more powerful than wisdom because you cannot even begin to use wisdom unless you have some life experience, education and teaching to exercise your wisdom with. Of course, this is an impractical thought process, and here’s why:

You must first decide how you will think about things before you decide what to think about. I know, I know, it seems confusing. Let us walk you through the process.

Let’s say that you are five years old again. You hear your daddy say, “The only way to succeed is through really hard work and lots of it. There’s no other way to succeed.” Well, being a five year old, you are not likely to question the words of your daddy, so you have just been taught “how” to think about something. Success and hard work go hand in hand, and you can’t have one without the other. Of course, if you later on find that success can be had through careful financial planning and smart investing, then you may change “how” you think about success. “What” you would think about in these circumstances would include a wide variety of things, such as hard working jobs, successful role models, passive income experiments, and active income earning.

Wisdom is how you think about something, and knowledge is what you think about.

In your employee workforce, you will have many workers who must make decisions about the health and operation of your business when their supervisors are not readily available. Of course, you would want employees who are able to put together smart decisions which benefit the business in the short term, if not the long term, too, and who are competent mentally and emotionally in these fields.

Naturally, the emotional and mental health of your employees is of primary importance and, while you can’t build them or force them yourself, you can keep an eye on them over time. That is where workplace drug testing comes in so conveniently. Drug & alcohol testing is meant to bring you accurate results, and none more so than the NATA accredited onsite drug and alcohol screening brought to you by Mediscreen. We can do great things together.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/wisdom-then-knowledge/

Winter Months, Sunny Hills, and Cold Depression

Workplace drug testing is for companies which wish to evaluate their employees on a more scientific level than just performance or ratings. Now, every business has a right to conduct their operations in whichever way they think to be best. However, using the scientific methods of drug and alcohol testing is probably the best way to achieve hard, accurate results. After all, you never know if someone is abusing drugs but hiding it well, or showing up to work tipsy, but who is able to hold their alcohol really well. You never know what goes on behind closed doors, and you must be able to effectively protect your business.

In wintertime, drug abuse and alcohol abuse are both likely to increase, since depression occurs far more frequently than during the summer months. This is because the sun is not out for the full day, there is less light overall, and people often feel a little down when they don’t receive the Vitamin D and other nutrients from the sun’s rays that are so prevalent during the summer months. Drug screening is a way to make sure that all of your employees are doing okay while at work, rather than having to resort to substance abuse to keep up their own happiness levels.

Now, this does not mean that wintertime gives everyone an automatic excuse for abusing drugs or alcohol while on the jobsite, but it does give everyone a way to understand how easily we are affected by light, light therapy, sunshine, and primordial darkness. We just like saying “primordial.”

Onsite drug and alcohol testing can make sure that not only are your employees screened, but that everyone can get back to work as soon as possible. In order to implement workplace drug testing, give Mediscreen a call. We provide high quality and convenient onsite drug and alcohol screening, as well as being accredited by NATA for drug testing. This is something about which we know a lot. This is our business! So, to help yourself help and understand your employees, visit our website and check out our services, then give us a call today.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/winter-months-sunny-hills-and-cold-depression/

Wandering Alone in the Dark

Occasionally, you will have an employee who is so withdrawn into themselves that you don’t think that you will ever be able to establish a close bond or connection with them. This may be due to many reasons, but their withdrawal coupled with a certain reading on a drug screening test can be cause for very real concern.

Not everyone stresses out in the same way when they are faced with problems. Sometimes people fight the problem and will it to bow to their needs with their warrior like personality. Some people run away from issues and get in the habit of running from the slightest problems in their lives. Some individuals find that their mood becomes really depressed. And then you find people who, when they are stressed out, withdraw into themselves, into the quiet and solitude of their own minds and hearts, that it is practically impossible to pull them back out again.

When one of these individuals abuses drugs or alcohol, their mindset is destructive but not in the typical ways which we have all seen alcoholics to behave. Instead, they are wandering alone in the dark. They are used to being alone, so this is not where it is destructive for them. They live solitary lives, naturally and happily. But the darkness, that is what gets to them over time. In fact, substance abuse will not seem to even affect them at first and to a large extent it doesn’t. They already have mental habits of solitude, but these just happen to be how they think normally.

It is the darkness which is stifling and scary.

Wandering alone in the dark is much scarier than being in a crowd of people who are with you.

Mediscreen gives you the tools you need to use alcohol testing and drug screening on your own employees. We are accredited by NATA for urine testing and onsite saliva collections, we provide onsite drug and alcohol screening services nationwide and, most of all, we really care about the success and growth of your business. Find out which of your employees may need to receive some help. Nobody should have to wander alone in the dark.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/articles/wandering-alone-in-the-dark/

New Commitments and Those Butterflies in Your Stomach

Anyone who has ever made a new, large commitment in their life knows exactly how scary and yet simultaneously exciting new commitments can be. Drug testing in Australia is meant to be reliable and strong, and to help be part of the support structure of your new ideas and your commitments in business. After all, your employees must be evaluated successfully, and what better way than through drug and alcohol testing? And what better way is there to implement this drug screening if not with onsite drug and alcohol screening? This is your future we are talking about here. This is your new investment, your new long term commitment, which must be made successful and be built up right. Workplace drug testing laws are meant to protect employees in certain businesses in high hazard industries, but this same protection should be covered by every company in Australia!

Alcohol drug testing is a part of our new commitment to you. Mediscreen forms new relationships with clients all the time, but each and every one of these relationships is a super long term commitment which we will have to back ourselves on continuously over the years. Needless to say, we use employee drug screening in our own company, as well. What better way to ensure the continuance of our company into the future?

Drug & alcohol testing, especially of NATA accredited quality brought to you by Mediscreen, is part and parcel of a whole picture. In your business, you will need a lot of different specialists in different areas of your company doing the best job in their field that they can possibly perform. Drug and alcohol testing is part of this picture, and drug testing equipment is available through our sister company, CMM Technology. We provide the onsite drug and alcohol testing services, and we provide this to each and every company in Australia which hires us. No matter where your worksite or job office location is, we can come to you and screen your employees for you. This is a guarantee of convenience that you cannot receive with very many other companies.

For more information on how you can jump into this wonderful new commitment with us.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/article /new-commitments-and-those-butterflies-in-your-stomach/