Mediscreen™ has been leading the way in workplace drug and alcohol screening for over a decade & synthetic drug testing for the past 5.
Mediscreen™ can test for almost any synthetic drug including: cannabinoids, other designer drugs such as “bath salts” and the full range of synthetic amphetamine compounds.
When synthetic drugs first appeared in Australia almost five years ago, Mediscreen™ was quick to rise to the challenge and become involved in finding a method to detect these synthetic drug compounds in both urine and oral fluid.
When the use of these synthetic drug compounds first became apparent in the workplace, users claimed that because they were not illegal then they must be okay to use; this argument soon became a real challenge for employers. Policies and procedures did not allow for testing these new substances and stakeholders had to act swiftly. Mediscreen™ played a major role in assisting their clients to amend documentation and educate employees in the dangers associated with these potent drugs and develop a process for synthetic drug testing.
Over time, each state listed known cannabinoids as prohibited substances and it became a race between the manufacturers of these deadly compounds and the state health departments. Because manufacturers keep changing the chemical structure of these substances to avoid detection and evade legal prohibition, synthetic cannabinoids are now prohibited under a broad category rather than individually.
Although synthetic cannabinoids are not listed in Australian Standards there is in fact a provision to test for these and other synthetic drug compounds providing certain protocols are followed. There are thought to be over synthetic drug 450 compounds worldwide and up to 200 having been seen in Australia to date. These synthetic drugs are often overlooked in traditional workplace drug screening programs because of the complexities involved in the detection of this group of so called designer drugs.
Synthetic Urine:
Another rising challenge in the workplace is the common use of drug free synthetic urine as a substitute during onsite drug screening. Because collectors are unable to directly observe the collection of urine specimens, drug abusers with such drugs as crystal meth (Ice) or Cannabis in their system are quite simply adding a pre-warmed synthetic urine sample to the test cup and passing the drug test.
Mediscreen™ has the capacity to test for hundreds of synthetic drug compounds (not just cannabinoids) and expose the use of “fake urine” onsite ensuring you are getting true value for money, and your workplace drug screening program is not being compromised.
Call today to discuss how we can screen your workforce for the presence of these extremely dangerous synthetic drug compounds and reduce your risk.
View our fact sheets about synthetic drug substances to gain more insight.
