METH USE AT WORK DOWN

CHEYENNE -- Statistics from the nation's largest drug-testing company
showed fewer Wyoming workers had methamphetamine in their systems in
2007 than in the two years previous, according to a study released by
the White House.

In 2005, 1 percent of Wyoming workers tested positive for
methamphetamine, while last year 0.28 percent of those tested had the
drug in their system, according to the study. It marked a 72 percent
decrease in workers who tested positive for methamphetamine.

Nationally, workplace methamphetamine use decreased 44 percent from
2005 to 2007, according to the study.

The statistics were compiled with information from the Quest
Diagnostics Drug Testing Index -- the largest drug-testing company in
the nation, said Jennifer de Vallance, press secretary for the Office
of National Drug Control Policy.

Laramie County Sheriff's Department spokesman Gerry Luce said there
seems to be a general decline in the regional use of methamphetamine,
but not with those being arrested in the county.

"What we've seen is actually a slight increase of people coming into
the jail," Luce said of methamphetamine use.

Luce said methamphetamine makes those who use it more prone to
violence and conflicts with staff members.

Methamphetamine also complicates medical care for inmates who use,
Luce said.

"We have to pay more attention to those individuals," Luce
said.

According to Quest Diagnostics, methamphetamine use continues to be
more prevalent in Wyoming than in most states across the country,
according to the company's results.

In 2002, the state and national averages of those testing positive
for methamphetamine in the workplace was the same at 0.32 percent,
according to the company's results.

Since then, Wyoming's workplace methamphetamine average has remained
higher than the national average every year, according to Quest
Diagnostics.

In 2005, when methamphetamine in the Wyoming workplace spiked to one
in every 100 testing positive, it was more than five times the
national average of 0.18 percent, according to the results.

Last year, the average in Wyoming was 180 percent higher than the
national average, according to the study.

Dr. Mindy Dahl, a research scientist with the Wyoming Department of
Health's Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Division, said it
is difficult to generalize workforce methamphetamine use across the
state based on the drug-testing results from one company.

"At this point, workforce drug testing information is not held in a
single statewide repository and thus is difficult to access," Dahl
said.

Access to such information, which is held by multiple drug-testing
companies, can be limited because of privacy issues, she said.

State agencies are beginning to discuss how to share information and
statistics on workforce drug testing in Wyoming, Dahl said.