DRUG USE PUT TO THE TEST

Natick Company Provides Screening Service

While the subject matter is serious, there's still room for whimsy,
says Richard Daley, the franchise owner of Wiz-Quiz Drug Screening
Service in Natick.

The company's Web site does feature a wizard, but the word "wiz" takes
on another connotation when the drug screening involves urinalysis,
even if the correct spelling in this con is "whiz."

Now that this pun has been dispensed with, Daley would like to
introduce the public to a new kind of drug screening service.

"Unlike other drug testing agencies, ours is a social
services-oriented program," says Daley. "Courts and schools remain our
largest clients."

Wiz-Quiz touts itself as family friendly. For example, children
accompanied by a parent or a guardian can walk into Daley's Summer
Street office, often without an appointment, and be drug tested, and
the results only go to their parents.

"A woman recently called and wants her son tested," the Medway
resident says. "She's concerned about his usage. It's for a mother's
own peace of mind. It's all confidential. The test results are only
divulged to those authorized to receive it.

"People have a concern. They ask, 'If I come in and test my son and he
tests positive, are you going to call the police?' The answer is no.
That's not my job. I'm just here to provide a service, to make people
aware, to provide peace of mind. It's up to you to decide what you
want to do with the results.

"We act the same way with probation officers and social workers. We
don't make any judgments.... We're not the judge. We're not the jury.
We're here to provide a service. If you want to know, we can help you
out."

While drug treatment agencies provide drug testing, Wiz-Quiz is the
only business in the state that focuses solely on drug testing,
according to Daley.

"That's our advantage over treatment agencies that drug test," he
says. "We focus on one thing and do it well. We aspire to be the best
drug-testing program for the courts, social services, parents and
employers in Massachusetts."

Clients can have an instant urinalysis screening that indicates
whether they test positive for a drug or not. For $15, a screening
tests for cocaine, marijuana and speed. The more drugs tested for, the
higher the price.

The most common test is the $25 walk-in instant screening that tests
for cocaine, two types of speed including Ecstasy, marijuana and
opiates such as heroin.

A lab screening -- where the urine sample is sent to a laboratory for
analysis -- starts at $20 and indicates not just whether a sample is
positive or negative but also the specific drug, or drugs, and their
level. For $20, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and alcohol are
tested.

"This gives you a snapshot," says Daley. "If someone tests positive
for, say, marijuana, a number is assigned. If that individual comes in
a week later and hasn't smoked any pot since then, that number should
decrease by half. If it does, I can say to whomever that he hasn't
smoked any pot. The levels are going down. An instant test will stay
positive. A lab screening will show if there isn't any new usage."

A saliva test, meanwhile, costs $45. These are popular with people
with "shy bladders." "They have difficulty urinating in front of
strangers," says David Whitcomb, a former Natick resident who founded
Wiz-Quiz in Aurora, Colo., in 1999. Employers also like this type of
testing because it has "a lower impact" on employees, says Whitcomb.

Wiz-Quiz also conducts a hair screening for $90. "If your hair shows
no drug traces for 90 days, you pass," says Whitcomb.

In addition, the company conducts a test for people in the medical
profession. "Some get hooked on the drugs they distribute," says
Daley. "Some of these drugs have more letters than in the alphabet."

Then there's the granddaddy of them all -- the Gas Chromotography Mass
Spectrum analysis. "That's the gold standard," says Daley. "It can
determine down to the molecule what's in a person's system." The cost
is $30 per drug tested. These tests are also legally defensible in
court.

Whitcomb notes that some people do try to thwart the system, but
Wiz-Quiz makes sure their chances of success are remote. For example,
some people may try to switch the sample. However, that ploy won't
work at Wiz-Quiz since all tests are monitored.

"There are even Web sites that sell products to try to cheat the
system, but most don't work," says Whitcomb. Those that do typically
succeed because of faulty monitoring.

"Some agencies don't monitor as well," he says. "Some do testing as an
afterthought." The saliva test, he points out, can't be fudged.

He describes Wiz-Quiz's prices are "fairly competitive" with treatment
agencies. "It's hard to get lower than $15," he says. Its tests are
not yet covered by insurance.

Lab results are very consistent, according to Whitcomb. "Very few
mistakes are made," he says. If mistakes are made, it's typically an
agency that makes them, he continues. "One person we screened tested
positive so he went another agency and tested negative. But the other
agency was proven wrong."

Results from instant tests usually come back in five minutes, says
Daley. Lab results are returned in about two to three days, he adds.

"We have a great deal of experience with addictions and collections,"
says Daley. "Our employees are either certified addiction counselors
or certified professional collectors or both."

Whitcomb, for example, is a certified addiction counselor who started
Wiz-Quiz to fill a need he believed wasn't being adequately met,
according to Daley. "The people he worked for and all the other
agencies in the area were just dropping the ball when it came to
testing," he says. "They missed tests, they were late to report, they
lost tests, they were difficult to deal with, they were expensive. So
he decided to give it a shot.

"Business was slow at first, but he stuck with it. He worked a
part-time job at nights while working at Wiz-Quiz during the day. Now
he's doing extremely well."

In fact, there are currently two Wiz-Quiz offices and three Wiz-Quiz
franchises in Colorado and a fourth in the works. Massachusetts is
home to the first franchise outside Colorado, though Whitcomb hopes to
have one in every state eventually.

Daley became involved with the company through his association with
the Whitcomb brothers, whom he grew up with in Natick. In addition to
David, other brothers involved in the business are John, Steven and
Mark.

Daley's machine shop business in Holliston wasn't exactly firing on
all cylinders due to a nationwide decline in the manufacturing
industry, so he went looking for another money source. Then David
Whitcomb made him a job offer. It intrigued him after he looked into
the business.

"But it got to the point where I said, 'I'm interested but it's kind
of a gamble to give up my other job and try something that's totally
new to Massachusetts,'" recalls Daley, a 1975 graduate of Natick High
School. "I said, 'I'd love to come out there and watch you guys in
operation but I can't afford to take the time and the expense to go to
Colorado.'

"The next thing I know is they've sent me a round-trip ticket to
Colorado and put me up for a week. During that week, I saw how
everything was run and once my stay was complete, I came back to
Massachusetts very enthusiastic about the opportunity, the potential
for a Wiz-Quiz in Massachusetts."

Daley, who started his franchise in April, admits it remains a gamble.
"I can still do machine work on the side and I'm giving myself time to
see if it works," he says. "If it takes off, that will be my full-time
profession. If not, it's back to whatever."

What attracted Daley to Wiz-Quiz was not just fiscal considerations,
however. "I've seen the devastating effects of drugs, both in my
family and with close friends," he says. "I've had friends and family
who have died from the results of problems with drugs. It's a social
problem that's probably never going to go away, but you need
awareness. I might be able to make a living helping to provide a
service that seems to be needed more and more every day. More and more
employers are asking their employees to be tested for drugs,
specifically the transportation industry.... It's the wave of the future."

Statistics on the effectiveness and pervasiveness of drug testing vary
depending on the source. Some Web sites point out how certain
companies with drug testing programs have improved their business and
safety records. Other sites show no correlation, and that companies
are cutting back on testing due to the cost.

Whitcomb does concur that the sluggish economy has slowed the company
portion of Wiz-Quiz's client base. But that amounts to only 10 percent
of its business, he says. Sixty percent of its clients come from
probation cases while the remaining 30 percent involve children, he
says.

Adds Daley, "We can customize programs to fit a client's needs. We
also have a mobile service where Wiz-Quiz will come to your workplace
or job site for six or more tests per visit. It's the convenience factor.

"I also may be going to some of the courthouses in the area. The
probation officer will have all his people on probation show up at the
courthouse at a certain time on a certain day. 'Surprise,' he'll say.
'Here's the drug test man.'"

For the record, all of Wiz-Quiz testing labs are certified by the
College of American Pathologists and the Department of Health and
Human Services under its Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act. The
company is also a member of the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry
Association.

"A lot of people don't know about Wiz-Quiz or even the service we
provide in Massachusetts," says Daley, who is a certified professional
collector. "There are testing agencies in the state, but I found
through the grapevine and from direct questioning with people that
some can be very cold, uncaring and difficult to deal with. We strive
to be friendly to people."

Overall, business at Wiz-Quiz is doing well, says Whitcomb, calling
the drug screening business model recession-proof. "People get into
trouble with drugs. That never stops. And parents are concerned about
their children. That never stops either," he says.

[sidebar]

WIZ-QUIZ DRUG SCREENING SERVICE

Franchise owner: Richard Daley

Employees in Massachusetts: 1

Industry: Drug testing

Company background: Wiz-Quiz Drug Screening Service is a drug testing
program with offices in Colorado and Massachusetts. Its Web site
address is www.wiz-quiz.com