SAMPLES ARE IN; RESULTS ARE MAINLY NEGATIVE

By now, most people have accepted that to get or keep a job, they may
need to enter a restroom and provide "a sample of their work." The
drug testing requirement has been a blow to some civil liberties
activists (not to mention the poppy-seed industry), but employers
defend it as a valuable deterrent.

The percentage of people testing positive for drugs -- both illegal
drugs and a list of undesirable legal drugs like amphetamines -- is
steadily declining, according to figures from Quest Diagnostics, the
largest provider of employment-related drug testing.

In 1988, 13.6 percent of those tested by Quest had a positive result
for drugs, compared with 3.8 percent in 2006, with some intriguing
geographical variations. That includes random, on-the-job tests and
pre-employment tests.

The data could be a sign of declining drug use. Or it could be a sign
that people who use drugs are not working -- or looking for jobs at
places that don't ask for that sample.