Ten Additional Resources for Your Drug-Free Workplace Program

(Summer 2015) Staying informed about drug-free workplace (DFWP) issues is vital to operating an effective DFWP program. The more knowledge you and your employees have the better armed everyone will be to make informed decisions.

To help you on your quest for knowledge, here is a list of some excellent sites and white papers that our team has found useful or contributed to where you can get more information relevant to your drug-free workplace program.

General knowledge and data

• Start Talking! BIZ: At the beginning of 2015, Governor Kasich unveiled Start Talking! BIZ (Business Impact Zone) as a new resource to support the state’s business community. Working Partners® was tapped by the state to develop free tools such as videos and presentations for this initiative. The goal of BIZ Tips is to provide workplace management with free, bite-sized relevant information to support workforce readiness and workplace safety – to stay in-the-know about how substance abuse is impacting business.
• Quest Diagnostics’ Drug Testing Index (DTI): As the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information, Quest Diagnostics complies drug testing data from over 11 million tests a year to offer insight into the nation’s workplace drug use patterns. The most recent DTI explores what might be behind an increase in workforce drug test positivity rates. You can also look at the DTI archives for historical data and trends.

Marijuana

• The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado by Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area: This yearly report looks at the effect marijuana legalized for medical and recreational use is having in Colorado. Each year the white paper compares data on the same subjects so readers get an apple-to-apple comparison on how things have changed year to year.
  • The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado. The Impact (Volume 1, August 2013)
  • The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado. The Impact (Volume 2, August 2014)
  • The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado. The Impact (Volume 3, August 2015)
• Ohio marijuana initiatives: There are at least six entities in Ohio working to pass marijuana legislation. While some similarities exist among the bills, each one is different. Even though marijuana use (medical or personal/recreational) is not legal in Ohio, it is important for employers to be aware of what these bills say and think critically about how such legislation could impact workplace operations and employees.
  • Marijuana Legalization Amendment by Responsible Ohio
  • End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act by Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis
  • The Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment by Ohio Rights Group
  • Cannabis Control Amendment by Ohioans to End Prohibition
  • Legalize Marijuana and Hemp in Ohio by Better for Ohio
  • Ohio House Bill 33
• What Will Legal Marijuana Cost Employers? by National Families in Action: Using scenarios based on real events, this white paper details some of the ways the changing marijuana laws can and are affecting employers’ abilities to do business and provide safe work environments for their employees.To write this white paper, National Families in Action assembled a group of national experts, including Dee Mason, president and founder of Working Partners®, to identify the issues highlighted in the paper.
• Workplace Drug Testing in the Era of Legal Marijuana, by the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.: This white paper examines how marijuana legalization is impacting workplace drug testing, offers employers guidance on drug testing, and calls for a review of how drug testing is currently done.
• Recreational Marijuana: Is the case for Legalization Going Up in Smoke? by Arizona Chamber Foundation: Published in June 2015, this statement paper is written by an employer organization for employers and lays out some of the arguments both in favor and against legalization of marijuana.
• Marijuana Legalization and Its Impact on Busine$$ Operations [recorded webinar]: This 90-minute webinar, presented by Dee Mason and Kevin Griffith, J.D., Littler Mendelson, examines the potential effects proposed marijuana legislation could have on business operations.

Prescription painkillers and heroin

• Addiction: Heroin and Pills, WBGU-TV: Connected to Bowling Green University, this TV station is producing a series of shows exploring prescription painkillers and heroin addiction. The programs aim to answer questions such as,
  • • “Where do I get treatment
    • What are schools doing to educate kids about this?
    • What government and community agencies are helping?
    • What do I do if my child is an addict?”

  Currently, there are three videos, with at least one more in production. Working Partners® very own Dee Mason, president and founder, and Karen Pierce, managing director, both make an appearance in the series.

• A Dose of Reality: Created in partnership with Cardinal Health Foundation, The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, CompDrug and Working Partners®, this website focuses on the toll prescription drug abuse has on the workplace, e.g., decreasing productivity and increasing insurance costs. The site contains a library of resources including downloadable materials that can be printed and distributed to employees, a 60-minute employee education online course and numerous white papers.

Of course, these are just a few available resources. A quick search on website or the internet is bound to provide you with others. And if you find one you think we should know about, send us an email at Mail@WorkingPartners.com. Like you, we are always on the lookout for useful information to help make implementing and operating a drug-free workplace program easy.