MORE WORKERS SUBMIT POSITIVE PAKALOLO TESTS

DLS Inc., which hunts for evidence of drugs in urine, says use of pot
is up by 30%

Hawaii employees testing positive for marijuana use climbed 30
percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with a year earlier,
according to Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc.

The drug-testing company said 3.5 percent of the workers tested
during the quarter had used marijuana, up from 2.7 percent a year
ago. DLS' quarterly sample size typically includes between 7,000 to
10,000 drug tests.

The number testing positive was "probably the highest" in the last
eight to 10 years, said Carl Linden, scientific director of
toxicology for DLS. Linden, 59, who has been conducting drug tests in
Hawaii since 1980, said he does not know what caused the jump in
positive marijuana results last quarter.

Use of opiates and amphetamines was little changed in the fourth
quarter at 0.2 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively. Cocaine use was
up slightly to 0.3 percent from a 0.2 percent a year earlier.

The number of workers testing positive for substance abuse is likely
much smaller than the actual number using drugs, Linden said. That
number could be 10 percent to 20 percent, he said. Many people,
knowing they will likely be tested for drugs when they get a new job,
probably abstain from using them to pass the test, Linden said.

DLS began testing for synthetic urine for the first time last year.
In the fourth quarter, 2.3 percent of those tested were found to be
using synthetic urine.

The use of synthetic urine will likely decline as word gets out that
DLS is testing for it, Linden said.

Synthetic urine is sold online. Users heat it in a microwave oven and
keep it warm with a hand-warming pack. They keep it concealed until
the sample is turned in, Linden said. Some use a temperature strip to
make sure the urine is in the acceptable 95- to 98-degree temperature
range, he said.

DLS said 7.3 percent of those tested in the fourth quarter were
either positive for one of the tested drugs or used synthetic urine.

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DRUG USE CLIMBING

The percentage of Hawaii employees who tested positive for marijuana use:

Period Percent

4th Qtr 2010 3.5% 4th Qtr 2009 2.7% Change +29.6%

4th Qtr 2010 3.5% 3rd Qtr 2010 2.6% Change +34.6%

Source: Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc.