Workplace Drug Test Positives Continue
Downward Trend, Smithkline Beecham Data
Show Percentage of Positive Tests For
Cocaine Falls as Marijuana Positives Rise

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., /PRNewswire/ The SmithKline Beecham Drug
Testing Index(C), released today, disclosed that 5.4 percent of the
more than 2.2 million tests performed in the first six months of 1997
by SmithKlineBeecham Clinical Laboratories were positive for drugs.
The positive rate for all of 1996 was 5.8 percent.

"The continued decline in workplace positive drug tests is
encouraging for U.S. employers," said John B. Okkerse, Jr., Ph.D.,
President, SBCL. "In the general workforce, marijuana continues to be
detected most frequently. Nearly 60 percent of positive test results
in the first six months of 1997 were positive for marijuana, as
compared to 52 percent for the same time period in 1996.

"The percentage of those testing positive for cocaine, which
historically has been approximately 24 percent of all positive test
results, declined to less than 18 percent over the first six months
of the year."

The overall positivity rate has declined by 70 percent since the
company began tracking the results of its workplace drug testing more
than ten years ago, the Index showed. SBCL has performed drug tests
on more than 26 million samples from American workers over the past
10 years. The SmithKline Beecham Drug Testing Index is released every
six months as a service for government, media and industry.

SBCL is a unit of SmithKline Beecham (NYSE: SBH). SmithKline Beecham
one of the world's leading healthcare companies discovers,
develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, vaccines,
overthecounter medicines and healthrelated consumer products, and
provides healthcare services including clinical laboratory testing,
disease management and pharmaceutical benefit management.

For company information, visit SmithKline Beecham on the World Wide
Web at http://www.sb.com . Color graphics of the SmithKline Beecham
Drug Testing Index(C) will be available online today at
http://www.sb.com/news/dti.html .

Annual Positivity Rates
Year Drug Positive Rate
1987 18.1%
1988 13.6%
1989 12.7%
1990 11.0%
1991 8.8%
1992 8.8%
1993 8.4%
1994 7.5%
1995 6.7%
1996 5.8%
First six months, 1997 5.4%
Prevalence Rates

Testing Category Jan. June, 1996 1995 1994
1997
Safety Sensitive Transportation
Workforce 3.5% 3.6% 3.4% 3.5%
General Workforce 6.4% 6.4% 7.5% 8.6%
Combined U.S. Workforce 5.4% 5.8% 6.7% 7.5%

Positive Drug Test Results By Testing Category
(For Safety Sensitive Transportation Workforce)
(More than 400,000 tests from January to June, 1997)

Testing Reason Jan. June, 1997 1996 1995 1994
PreEmployment 3.9% 4.3% 4.1% 4.1%
Periodic 1.6% 1.6% 1.7% 1.7%
Random 2.8% 2.9% 3.0% 2.7%
PostAccident 3.3% 3.3% 6.0% 3.4% For
Cause 9.7% 11% 10.8% 9.5%
Returned to Duty 6.0% 3.8% 3.7% 2.8%

Positive Results By Drug Category
(For Safety Sensitive Transportation Workforce,
as a Percentage of All Safety Sensitive Tests)
(More than 400,000 tests in the first six months of 1997)

Drug Category Jan June, 1997 1996 1995 1994
Marijuana 2.7% 2.4% 2.0% 2.0%
Cocaine 0.9% 1.0% 0.90% 0.90%
Opiates 0.39% 0.33% 0.30% 0.30%
Amphetamines 0.22% 0.17% 0.17% 0.16%
PCP 0.03% 0.04% 0.04% 0.05%

Positive Result By Drug Category
(For Combined U.S. Workforce Including Transportation,
as a Percentage of All Tests)
(More than 2,200,000 tests in the first six months of 1997)

Drug Category Jan June, 1997 1996 1995 1994
Marijuana 3.5% 3.4% 3.7% 3.5%
Cocaine 1.0% 1.2% 1.4% 1.8%
Benzodiazepine,
class of tranquilizer:
Valium & Librium 0.32% 0.38% 0.50% 0.80%
0piates 0.48% 0.46% 0.50% 0.50%
Barbiturates 0.20% 0.19% 0.26% 0.33%

Positive Result By Drug Category
(For Combined U.S. Workforce Including Transportation,
as a Percentage of All Positives)
(More than 2,200,000 tests in the first six months of 1997)

Drug Category Jan June, 1996
Marijuana 59.1%
Cocaine 17.8%
Benzodiazepines,
class of tranquilizer:
Valium & Librium 5.3%
Opiates 7.9%
Barbiturates 3.3%
Propoxyphene 1.6%
Methadone 0.7%
Amphetamines 3.8%
PCP 0.4%
Methaqualone 0.01%

Positive Result By Drug Category
(For Safety Sensitive Transportation Workers,
as a Percentage of All Positives)
(More than 400,000 tests in the first six months of 1997)

Drug Category Jan June 1996
Marijuana 63.2%
Cocaine 21.5%
Opiates 9.4%
Amphetamines 5.2%
PCP 0.7%

SOURCE SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories

/CONTACT: Thomas Johnson of SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories,
6104546202 or 8008777478/ (SBH)

[Copyright 1997, PR Newswire]