New Quest Diagnostics Study Highlights Drastic Measures Being Used to Avoid Testing Positive for Drugs
Marijuana Positivity in the U.S. Workforce Increased 45.2% Over Five Years
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, released the following statement today based on a new report from Quest Diagnostics that shows a continued rise in workers testing positive for marijuana, up again from last year’s 25-year record level. The report also found a 6x increase in workers whose drug test showed signs of tampering, a clear sign of the unseen danger of drug normalization.
“The predatory marijuana industry has sold lawmakers and the public a false bill of goods. They want people to think that today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused products are not harmful, are well regulated, and can even be ‘recreational.’ Quest’s report shows how the industry’s lies have fueled a narrative that downplays the hazards associated with these dangerous psychoactive drugs and creates serious risks for Americans’ health, safety and mental wellbeing.
“National survey after national survey continues to show that record levels of marijuana use in our society are having grave consequences. It should be no surprise that when states are condoning and promoting the use of high-potency THC vapes, smoking weed, or popping drug-laced gummy bears, workers would see no problem faking drug tests.
“Medical and scientific studies have made it painfully clear that the normalization movement and the rapid expansion of the addiction-for-profit industry have been devastating for the nation’s health, mental health, and safety. It’s a disservice to our children and their future if we continue to fail to learn from the mistakes that are being made in front of us in real time. We can and must do better.”
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