drug testing

18 Stories

Swiatek Agrees to Suspension After Drug Test

Women's No. 2 player received a one-month suspension

(Newser) - Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, a heart medication known as TMZ, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Thursday. Swiatek, who slid from No. 1 to No. 2 last month, failed a drug test in August, the AP...

She Lost Custody of Her Baby Over a Costco Salad
She Lost Custody of Her Baby
Over a Costco Salad
longform
Sep 15, 2024 7:00 AM CDT

She Lost Custody of Her Baby Over a Costco Salad

The Marshall Project reports on the issue of hospital drug tests resulting in false positives

(Newser) - Before she went to the hospital in Santa Rosa, California, to deliver her fifth child, Susan Horton ate a Costco salad with poppy seeds. You can probably see where this is going: The hospital drug test turned up a false positive for opiates, and social services placed her baby in...

Workers Are Cheating on Drug Tests Like Never Before
Workers Are Cheating on
Drug Tests Like Never Before
the rundown
May 15, 2024 12:15 PM CDT

Workers Are Cheating on Drug Tests Like Never Before

Quest Diagnostics describes 633% spike in swapped tests in 2023

(Newser) - Most of the millions of drug screens performed in the US each year come back negative. A small but growing fraction, however, come back positive. And a rapidly increasing number show signs of tampering. Indeed, US workers are cheating on drug tests at the highest rate in decades, according to...

After Warning Signs, Navy Begins Drug Tests for SEALS

Branch is the first to impose policy on special operations forces

(Newser) - The Navy announced Friday that it will institute sweeping drug testing not only for candidates to join the SEALs but for all 9,000 current members of its Naval Special Warfare force. That includes all SEALs and their combat boat support crews, who will be subject to random testing for...

A Marijuana Test for Work Is Fast Becoming a Relic
Employers Surrendering
on Pot Tests for Jobs
the rundown
Jul 22, 2023 4:00 PM CDT

Employers Surrendering on Pot Tests for Jobs

More employers scrapping the practice amid fast-changing laws

(Newser) - It's a brave new world in regard to marijuana use in the US, and getting braver all the time. In May, Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize recreational use of the drug, notes Reuters , and a number of outlets have been cataloguing the resulting nationwide changes:
  • Workplace: Now
...

Bagels Caused Drug Tests to Be Positive, Women Say

Civil rights complaint says hospitals launched investigations based on bad results

(Newser) - It was the poppy seeds on their breakfast bagels, say two New Jersey women who tested positive for opiate use. But the issue isn't so much the false positives as it is the drug tests. The women say they didn't consent to the tests during their hospital stays,...

Pentagon to Military Members: Stop Eating Poppy Seeds

They could cause a failed drug test, memo warns

(Newser) - It's a lesson that Elaine learned the hard way —and one that's not purely the stuff of TV lore . In a Feb. 17 memo , the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert Cisneros warned service members of the potential perils posed by poppy seeds as...

Thai Temple Cleared of All Its Monks After Drug Test

Buddhist foursome in Phetchabun province came up positive for meth, a major issue in Thailand

(Newser) - Thailand has been trying to crack down on drug trafficking, especially when it comes to the methamphetamine pouring in from neighboring Myanmar, and drug testing has been a part of the nation's campaign against it. The latest group to be busted, however, is a bit of a surprise—and...

Pandemic, Worker Shortage Change Employee Drug Testing

Percentage of positive tests rises, but more employers aren't testing for THC

(Newser) - Against a backdrop of changing marijuana laws and a worker shortage, more employees are testing positive for drug use. Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest testers, found that 3.9% of the 6 million urine tests it processed last year came back positive, up 50% from 2017. In that same...

After Olympic Letdown, WADA to Review Controversial Ban

Sha'Carri Richardson lost spot in Tokyo Games due to pot use

(Newser) - Sha'Carri Richardson missed her chance to compete in Tokyo's Summer Olympics due to pot use, but a move by the World Anti-Doping Agency could keep future athletes from meeting the same fate. On Tuesday, WADA announced it will set up an advisory committee to review whether cannabis should...

Track Star Who Wowed US Tests Positive for Marijuana
Before Her First Olympics,
a Positive Test for Pot
THE RUNDOWN
Jul 2, 2021 8:57 AM CDT

Before Her First Olympics, a Positive Test for Pot

It's now not clear if 21-year-old sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson will compete in Tokyo Games

(Newser) - A breakout track star set to head to her first Olympics is now in competition limbo after she tested positive for marijuana. In news first reported by the Gleaner in Jamaica, US sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson has had her win at last month's 100-meter race at the US Olympic...

World's Fastest Man Is in Hot Water
World's Fastest Man
Is in Hot Water
Jun 17, 2020 4:39 PM CDT

World's Fastest Man Is in Hot Water

Christian Coleman could miss the Olympics

(Newser) - The likelihood that the world’s fastest man, American sprinter Christian Coleman, might miss the Olympics next summer increased Wednesday when he received a provisional suspension for failing to be home when drug testers showed up last year. Coleman, the reigning world champion at 100 meters, said his latest flare-up...

School District's Way to Push Back on 'Peer Pressure': Drug Tests

Kids as young as 12 will be drug-tested in Bushland, Texas

(Newser) - A Texas school district says students as young as 12 will need to submit to random drug testing to participate in band, chess, and other extracurriculars. Bushland Independent School District Superintendent Chris Wigington says the board's decision to drug-test students in grades seven through 12 when classes begin next...

How Lamar Odom Scammed the Olympics
How Lamar Odom
Cheated the
Olympics
May 18, 2019 9:32 AM CDT

How Lamar Odom Cheated the Olympics

The NBA champion found a way around the drug test

(Newser) - Lamar Odom admits he beat an Olympic drug test by using something huge, rubber, and black. In his new memoir Darkness to Light, the NBA champ says it was "one of the biggest honors in my career" to be offered a place on the US Men's Olympic basketball...

Dad Blasts Cop for 'Uncalled For' Handling of Baby's Ashes

Anthony Butler says deputy spilled infant's cremated remains all over his car during traffic stop

(Newser) - Anthony Butler says he knew he'd get a ticket when a cop pulled him over March 11 for not having a front license plate on his vehicle. What he didn't expect was to lose most of his infant daughter's cremated remains. "Almost all her ashes are...

Drug Tests That Broke Apart 56 Families Were Flawed

Authorities in Canada apologize, promise fixes

(Newser) - Authorities in Canada investigating the use of a now-discredited drug test have revealed an alarming stat: At least 56 families in Ontario were "broken apart" from 1990 to 2015 largely as a result of the flawed hair testing, and in only four of those cases were children returned to...

World's Most Famous Racing Dogs Busted for Doping

Several canine Iditarod competitors tested positive for pain reliever tramadol

(Newser) - For the first time in the history of the world's most famous sled dog race, several of the high-performance animals have tested positive for a prohibited drug—but race officials have refused to name the musher involved. Several dogs tested positive for the opioid pain reliever tramadol, the governing...

Olympian's Girlfriend Smooch Nearly Ruined His Career

Gil Roberts failed drug test, but arbitrator rules it was because of his kissing

(Newser) - Gold-medal sprinter Gil Roberts nearly kissed away his career. But an arbitrator cleared the champ of charges he ingested a banned substance, conceding the drug got into his system exactly as Roberts says it did—through smooching with his girlfriend, reports Sports Illustrated . Roberts, 28, who won the 4x400-meter relay...

18 Stories