FEWER USE OPIATES, ISLE TESTING FIRM SAYS

The number of workers and job candidates testing positive for use of
opiates and prescription drugs with opiates fell significantly over
the past year, according to the latest data from Diagnostic Laboratory
Services Inc., the state's largest locally owned drug testing company.

Diagnostic's third-quarter test results show the number of people
using either legal or illegal opiate drugs fell to under 0.25 percent
from more than 0.5 percent a year ago.

Carl Linden, Diagnostic Laboratories scientific director, said he was
unsure why opiate use had declined over the past year, but that it
followed an increase in usage of opiates over the past several years.

Other test results - for marijuana, amphetamine and cocaine - remained
relatively unchanged compared to a year earlier. The laboratory tests
5,000 to 10,000 people each quarter, most of whom are job candidates.