METH PRESENCE SURGES 68% IN WORKPLACE DRUG TESTS

As states try to restrict sales of over-the-counter cold and allergy
medicine to keep it from being cooked into methamphetamine, there is
evidence meth is becoming the workplace's latest drug headache.

Meth use by workers and job applicants soared 68% last year, according
to data that will be released today by Quest Diagnostics from the 7.1
million drug tests it administered for employers in 2003. If use
continues to rise at this pace, meth will pass cocaine this year as
the illegal stimulant of choice.

No end is in sight. Meth labs are migrating east and churning out
increasingly pure and addictive drugs.

In the past, meth recipes were passed by word of mouth between drug
lab operators, said Ed Childress, special agent with the Drug
Enforcement Administration. But the Internet has put meth recipes
within anyone's reach.

The number of DEA meth lab seizures has risen from fewer than 8,000 in
1999 to 10,000 last year. "It's pushed its way like a firestorm across
the United States," Childress said.

The trend is ominous in light of fresh research by UCLA brain mapping
expert Paul Thompson. He found that regular meth users lose about 1%
of their brain cells each year, a loss comparable to that associated
with Alzheimer's.

Workers use meth because it halts fatigue and offers a feeling of
self-confidence without an obnoxious high. But increasingly large
doses are needed to produce the same high, which leads to addiction.

About 70% of Quest's drug tests are given to job applicants in
pre-employment screening.

Overall, marijuana remains by far the most popular drug, accounting
for more than half of positive tests and about 3 positive tests per
100 given. In comparison, 3.2 in 1,000 tested positive for meth in
2003, up 68% from 1.9 in 2002.

Barry Sample, Quest's science and technology director, said
methamphetamine use is what drove the 17% jump in amphetamine use from
2001 to 2002.

That increase was considered shocking but is dwarfed by last year's
rise. The past six years, workplace amphetamine use has surged 145%.