This page contains tidbits of information for employers, families, and others. It will be updated periodically.

Drug Dealer’s Business is Failing
You may have seen ads during the Super Bowl broadcast showing a drug dealer talking about his failing business. This ad kicked off a White House public education campaign alerting parents about the troubling trend of teen prescription drug abuse.

Every day, 2,500 kids ages 12-17 abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time and more people are becoming addicted to prescription drugs. Teens find these drugs are readily available in their own homes and from friends or relatives.

Some tips:

• Safeguard all drugs at home: monitor quantities and control access;
• Set clear rules for teens about all drug use;
• Be a good role model by following the same rules;
• Properly conceal and dispose of old or unused medicines in the trash; and
• Ask friends and family to safeguard prescription drugs as well.

Salvia divinorum…the hallucinogenic herb
This inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant may become the next marijuana. Sometimes called Sally-D, Magic Mint, and Diviner’s Sage, the hallucinogenic causes users to have an out-of-body sense of traveling through time and space or merging with inanimate objects. Generally, the effects last up to an hour.

Salvia is legal in some states, but many legislators in various states are calling for it to become illegal. The plant is native to Mexico and is still grown there. Generally, it is smoked but can also be chewed or made into a tea.

Why Should a Company Drug Test? The Simple Answer…
At one company, an employee high on marijuana forgot to lock the wheels on his forklift and it dropped five feet off a loading dock. Employees at another company built a crystal meth lab in the back of a truck.

Companies lose $82 billion in productivity each year because of substance abuse. Drug users are more likely to be involved in a workplace accident, file a workers’ compensation claim, miss more days of work, show up late, and change jobs more often.