Hairy problems for new drug testing method
Article Abstract:
A physical chemist named Werner Baumgartner may have less of a good thing than he thought when he started it. The good thing, testing people's hair to determine whether they use drugs, is under close scrutiny by the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Baumgartner formed a private company, Psychemedics, that specializes in testing potential employees for corporate clients. As a private company, Psychemedics cannot be regulated by the FDA, and its business is growing. Overall, the market for workplace drug testing methods is booming, with more than five million tests reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics alone in 1988. Hair testing is nonintrusive, clean, and cannot be cheated on - all of which distinguish it from urine testing. Moreover, a long-term record of drug use can be obtained, whereas urine tests fail to detect drug use that took place several days before the test. Approximately 60 hairs are tested after washing, using immunoassay, gas chromatography, and mass spectrometry. But Baumgartner refuses to disclose details of his procedures and will not submit positive test results for confirmatory testing (as the government prefers). More fundamental questions have been raised by NIDA regarding the accuracy and reliability of information obtained from hair. External contamination from, for instance, substances on the hands that are run through the hair could give a false-positive test result. Data linking a particular drug dosage to a concentration in hair are lacking, making test interpretation difficult, and different kinds of hair absorb drugs differently. These issues are not taken seriously by Psychemedics, which responds with statements like ''What goes in easy comes out easy'' to explain why superficial contamination would be washed out in the initial stages of testing. Baumgartner believes the government wants to fetter ''creative'' science. Drug testing, a big and potentially much bigger business, will be affected in the coming years by federal funding and regulatory efforts. Hair, if Baumgartner has his way, will not be excluded from the list of legitimate test substances. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Science
Subject: Science and technology
ISSN: 0036-8075
Year: 1990
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Kleber offers expert and blunt opinions on addiction
Article Abstract:
Herbert Kleber, deputy to United States drug chief William Bennett, is a respected psychiatrist with extensive experience in addiction research and drug treatment. Kleber's mission in the President's war on drugs is to reduce the demand for illegal drugs. His opinions on various related topics are discussed. Kleber states no remedy for drug abuse will be found in needle exchange programs, in which addicts are given clean needles to help prevent the spread of AIDS. Most addicts are too impulsive to refuse a dirty needle when drugs are available. Criminal punishment may be a useful deterrent if applied consistently and quickly, but the system does not jail enough criminals to be effective. Kleber is completely opposed to legalization of drugs, particularly cocaine. He believes cocaine addiction would become rampant and violence would increase, because crack makes users paranoid, irritable and hyperactive. Drug treatment should not be provided to every addict, he states. About one million of the four million serious drug abusers are motivated to quit on their own, and another million do not want treatment or would fail to benefit from it. More funds for treating cocaine addicts are needed; most funding today is used for heroin withdrawal programs.
Publication Name: Science
Subject: Science and technology
ISSN: 0036-8075
Year: 1989
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Art stirs uproar Down Under
Article Abstract:
Australian researchers have found rock art dating back 600,000 years, more than 20,000 years older than the oldest know rock art. Another important discovery is an ancient site that indicates human habitation of Australia between 116,000 and 176,000 years ago.
Publication Name: Science
Subject: Science and technology
ISSN: 0036-8075
Year: 1996
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