Major Developments Major Developments by Calendar Year

Pre- employment drug screening is the pre-requisite for any company. All the fortune 500 companies are conducting this type of drug test. It in turn avoids the accidents. Employment drug testing helps the employer of the company for developing the company by making the environment healthier and even for earning more profits without any accidents and even monitors the employee if he is using the drug in the office premises.

An employer has the right legally to test whether the candidates who are eligible for their company are free from drug abuse, before appointing them as employees. Various laws are supporting this type of drug screening.

Requirements of Pre- employment drug screening:

• Employer should prescribe the policy of drug testing indicating that the drug abusers are not eligible and even the drug test is going to be conducted.
• Many legal advisors and even laws also say that the written description should be made compulsorily before. And the notification is to be sent in advance.
• In the written notice the employer has to confirm the employee with the type of the test.
• A written notice is given to the applicant while attending the first interview.
• After the completion of the interview offer letter is given to the employee on the conditional basis that drugs are not being used during the work hours

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Most of the foreign-based drugs are available in U.S market through land smuggling. This is one of the major routes for drugs smuggling. From Mexico and Canada border, this type of smuggling is going on. Many routes and methods for Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and Marijuana into the United States appear to have shifted because of the heavy law enforcement pressure.

Cocaine is one of the major illicit drugs, which are smuggled through land routes. There are significant shifts in cocaine smuggling routes. This is mainly due to the following factors:

• Decreased cocaine production in Colombia
• Enhanced counter drug efforts in Mexico
• High levels of cartel violence
• Sustained interdiction pressure
• Cocaine flow to non U.S markets

A decline in the amount of cocaine seized is noticed whereas there is a huge increment of heroin availability in U.S drugs market. This shift in smuggling trend appears to be directly related to production trends and the changing roles of DTOs. For the past several years, heroin is smuggled more than cocaine in U.S market.

All these factors visualize that there is a huge change in overland smuggling method. Year by year many major changes were noticed. Many factors are responsible for this type of change.

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A report created by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission has revealed that prescription drugs have exceeded illegal drugs as a cause of death.

A scrutiny of 168,900 autopsies (examination of dead body) conducted in Florida in 2007 identified  that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs like cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines all together. According to state law enforcement executives, this is an indication of a increasing prescription drug abuse problem.

In 2007, prescription was responsible for 843 deaths, heroin for 121, methamphetamines for 25 and marijuana for zero, out of 989 deaths. In contradiction, 2,328 people were killed by opioid painkillers, like Vicodin and Oxycontin, and 743 were killed by drugs belonging to benzodiazepine, and depressants Valium and Xanax.

While the number of dead bodies containing heroin increased to 14 percent, to a total of 110 deaths, but the number of deaths occurred due to the painkiller oxycodone raised by 36 percent, to a total of 1,253 deaths.

Prescription drugs have become more accessible alternative, as they can be easily acquired than illegal drugs. Even though illegal drug use among teenagers have reduced, prescription drug abuse has increased. For instance, while 4 percent of U.S. 12th graders were taking Oxycontin in 2002, by 2005 that number was increased to 5.5 percent.

Adults can obtain prescriptions by bluffing injuries, or by visiting many doctors and pharmacies for the treatment of same health problem. Some people acquire more drugs than it is required, and will sell the extras.

Any person using a prescription medicine will have a risk of negative consequences and the drugs are very dangerous when abused. For instance, many painkillers are intended to have a prolonged effect  which disappears after some time. This will make recreational users to take more amount of drugs before the old ones are exhausted from their system, which makes them vulnerable to an overdose. Similarly, the general process of grinding pills up leads to large dose of drugs to enter the body all at a time, with possibly dangerous consequences.

Derriford Hospital in Plymouth has recognized relatively 63 newborns who were born with addiction picked up from their mothers and needed special drug treatment at other facility in the previous two years. In between January 2005 and November of 2009, 127 babies were born to substance-using mothers at Derriford Hospital, of which 32 children were delivered by staff between January and November 2009, 36 in 2008 (63 of them required special drug therapy treatment), 28 in 2007, 22 in 2006 and 9 in 2005.

Drug addiction is a major problem and more for pregnant mothers who sometimes feel that pursuing  help cause problem to themselves. Every year nearly 4,500 babies are born at Derriford Hospital. Although the degree of substance abuse cases may appear less but the number is more. Infants that are uncertain of having substance abuse problems are initiated to a special care ward for supervision, children with adequately severe drug withdrawal symptoms are admitted in a treatment program. Usually these programs are conducted for minimum of 10 days and some require care for two to three weeks or more.

There are programs for pregnant women who are experiencing substance abuse problems that concentrate on favoring the child to be born drug free or less affected due to drugs. Sadly, these programs are underutilized and most of these women preferred to go through the suffering of giving birth to a drug addicted child under the belief that they have no choice. If women are made aware about such programs, then high rates of drug addiction in newborns would be reduced.

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The figure of new drug users among girls below 16 in Hong Kong increased to nearly 30 per cent in 2009 compared with 2008 year. Representatives of the Action Committee Against Narcotics told, there were 337 recently reported cases of girls below 16 consuming drugs compared with 262 in 2008.

There is a decline in the total number of noted drug users, which decreased by 2.3 per cent to 13,909 in the large town of 7 million people. The total number of drug users in the below 21 age group decreased by 3.3 per cent to 3,359.

The figures, reported at a meeting to analyze the drug circumstances in the former British colony, recognized that nearly 71 per cent of young drugs abusers consumed their drugs at home or at the homes of friends in contrast to 29 per cent who consumed them at discos or karaoke bars.

The report revealed that heroin is the most common type of drug among the noted drug abusers in 2009 even though there is a  4.8-per-cent fall in the reported number of heroin abusers. Ketamine is the most popular psychotropic drug taken among the young with 53.9 per cent of abusers below 21 age.

The committee told that the most common reasons noted for consuming drugs were to recognize with peers (55.8 per cent), to decrease boredom or depression (51.8 per cent), and eagerness (39.9 per cent). Drug abuse among the young has increased in recent years in Hong Kong, impelling the government to intensify drug education in schools and conduct voluntary drug-testing in few secondary schools.

A government survey consisting of more than 150,000 pupils recognized that one out of every 10 Hong Kong primary schools had consumed drugs or turned to substance abuse.

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