Drug testing adapts to ban on bath salts

Many think the synthetic drugs are undetectable.

Ron Alvey Joy Brush of Mobile Drug Testing holds a specimen cup and paperwork, two items required to test for bath salts and spice usage.

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By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer Updated 7:03 AM Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Authorities said many Miami Valley residents who abuse synthetic cannabinoids and “bath salts” do so because they believe they can get high and still pass drug tests mandated by their employers or arranged by families.

But local medical companies are adapting to the synthetic drug craze by offering tests that can detect common chemicals used to manufacture the substances.

MedWork Occupational Health Care in Dayton, which administers about 15,000 drug screens each year, has the capability to test for “bath salts” and Spice, aka synthetic marijuana, but the company is advising its clients to wait to change drug-testing policies.

In July, Gov. John Kasich signed legislation outlawing “bath salts” and synthetic cannabinoids, which are products that mimic the effects of stimulants and marijuana and are sold at smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores across the Miami Valley.

The new law takes effect on Oct. 17, and Dr. E. Dean Imbrogno, MedWork owner and medical director, recommended his clients not take any action until the products are officially outlawed.

Pam McCool-Ellish, senior manager of MedWork, said she expects that once the law is enacted, her company will see many employers choose to test for synthetic cannabinoids.

“I already have employers interested in that because people are trying to beat the system,” McCool-Ellish said. “After the first of the year, I see a lot of employers changing their policies, and they will add that to their standard drug test.”

MedWork serves municipalities, counties, schools, industrial companies, trucking businesses and other “safety sensitive” employers, McCool-Ellish said.

In jobs where mistakes can be deadly, employers are interested in ensuring their workers are drug-free and not concealing a substance-abuse problem by using synthetic products, she said.

Drug testing for synthetic drugs through MedWork will on average add $8 to $10 to standard tests for illicit substances, McCool-Ellish said.

McCool-Ellish said she does not believe there will be a huge demand for testing of bath salts because they seem to impair users to the point where they cannot work or function at a high level.

She said people who use bath salts likely have a tough time concealing their use.

McCool-Ellish also said the certified laboratory her company uses conducts validity testing on all urine samples to make sure no one tries to beat the tests by using fake urine or masking agents.

“They are going to get caught,” she said.

Mobile Drug Testing in Centerville offers tests that can detect the primary chemicals used in designer-drug products, but they are not cheap.

Testing costs $58 for synthetic cannabinoids and about $123 for bath salts, said Peter Kligmann, executive director of analytical services for Mobile Drug Testing LLC. He said they are the only mobile company that offers these services.

Joy Brush, owner of the Centerville company, said she does not expect there will be a huge demand for these tests because of their cost.

But Brush said she is alarmed by the growing popularity of synthetic drugs in the Miami Valley, which have been linked to overdoses and illness in the region.

She said she wanted to provide the testing almost as a service to the community to help families identify dangerous drug abuse among users who try to hide it.

Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest drug-testing companies in the country, recommends that employers develop drug policies addressing synthetic drug use. However, Dr. Barry Sample, director of science and technology with the company, noted that labs can test for many of the substances, but it is not always practical or cost-effective to perform such screenings.

“There are literally hundreds of compounds that purveyors of these products may choose to use,” he said. “As a consequence, the specific substances are a moving target.”

Although the Montgomery County Adult Probation Department does not test specifically for synthetic cannabinoids or bath salts, it administers eye tests of pupil response to light, which indicates recent drug use, said Dave Taylor, supervisor with the department.

Taylor said it is not feasible to test for all of the drugs available on the market, but his department’s tests can identify the vast majority of substances abused by users.

“There are hundreds of drugs people can take,” he said. “You can’t financially test for everything — budgets are getting cut, and you’d have to double them to test for every single thing — but with the testing, you have to look at what you are most likely to find and focus on those things.”

Taylor said he hopes testing companies will continue to develop affordable tests that can detect more substances, such as designer drugs. Until then, he said that members of his department are trained to spot behavioral signs of drug use, and they can often sniff it out even when the tests come back negative.

“You have other things you look for aside from what you get from a cup of pee,” he said.

“We get people who tell us about their drug use, even when they haven’t tested positive — it’s all about how you talk to people.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0749 or cfrolik@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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