METH CASTS BIGGER SHADOW OVER WORK

NEW YORK -- Employers are catching more workers using methamphetamine,
but the drug's spread into the workplace appears to have slowed
considerably, a new study finds.

Employers who screen job applicants and workers for drugs saw the
number testing positive for amphetamines increase by 6 percent last
year. Positive tests for methamphetamine, one of two stimulants in
that class of drugs, increased by 3 percent, according to a report
released Monday by Quest Diagnostics Inc.

The figures are based on the results of 7.2 million workplace drug
tests conducted in 2004 by Quest, one of the country's largest
drug-screening firms.

The limited increase contrasts sharply with 2003, when the number of
workers testing positive for all amphetamines surged 44 percent and
those failing the test for methamphetamine jumped 68 percent.

The percentage of workers testing positive for all drugs was unchanged
at 4.5 percent. Of the workers who tested positive, 55 percent failed
the screening for marijuana, 15 percent for cocaine and 10 percent for
amphetamines.

The popularity of methamphetamine has surged in recent years,
prompting many states to try to limit the sales of the decongestant
pseudoephedrine that is commonly used to make it.

But even as officials have worked to crack down on the manufacture and
sale of the drug and encourage treatment, drug users have proven
persistently creative at cheating on workplace tests. Such cheating
will be the topic today of a hearing by a House of Representatives
subcommittee.

A survey on methamphetamine use by the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration showed 5.7 percent of people older than
26 said they had used the drug.