IDS Press Release

St. Louis Company Makes Drug Users Sweat
Recent shocking study on drug activity in the workplace has employers seeking alternative solutions to protect employees and clients.

In 2006, The National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 10.6 percent of full-time employees aged 18-64 were classified as having a substance abuse disorder. This implies that approximately 20 million employees in America demonstrate potentially high-risk behaviors that pose dangerous health, safety and security concerns.

Finding cost-effective, non-invasive and reliable surveillance methods is the mission of Integrity Detection Systems (IDS), a high-tech company based in St. Louis. IDS offers revolutionary drug detection services as well as training for companies interested in implementing stronger anti-drug programs.

IDS utilizes biosensor technology with PreScreen and DrugWipe. These testing devices detect invisible drug residue present in the sweat of drug users and traffickers who have been in contact with illegal substances. The self-contained labs are a mere five-inches long, provide results in less than 5 minutes and simultaneously detect the presence of cannabis, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and derivatives such as Meth or Ecstasy.

PreScreen analyzes samples taken directly from a person’s skin, while DrugWipe tests surfaces of equipment people come into contact with. Results from both tests are legally defensible and have been found to be 100 percent reliable in research conducted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
“There are just too many ways for drug users and traffickers to evade detection using traditional screening methods,” says Bill Rau, CEO of IDS. “Companies need to protect their integrity without offending employees or making awkward accusations. We offer discreet, economical and reliable methods of internally monitoring illegal drug activity.”

IDS offers proactive solutions to organizations, specifically schools and businesses, that want to realistically confront drug activity. Blackwell Professional Support Services (BPSS), Inc., the award-winning security personnel provider, is an example of a company that has hired IDS to train three staff members to administer pre-employment, random, post-incident and for-cause testing on security personnel using PreScreen.

Wade Blackwell, president of BPSS, hopes to reinforce the company’s zero-tolerance policy for drugs in the workplace and raise awareness of the cutting-edge technology available to businesses. BPSS will also offer clients the ability to request on-site testing. In this situation, a technician from IDS will be deployed as an independent third party to screen BPSS personnel and provide results directly to clients.

“I predict only success from the services IDS will provide,” says Blackwell. “Identifying the presence of drug use or trafficking supports our commitment to providing 100 percent drug-free workplaces which, in turn, guarantees safer environments for clients.”

Integrity Detection Systems is a forensic narcotics company that offers innovative and discreet solutions for confronting illegal drug use and trafficking. For more information about Integrity Detection Systems visit www.integritydetection.com or call 314-882-6000.

Video of 2 and 5 year old smoking pot

This sickening video is making the rounds on TV. It shows a 2 and 5 year old being taught how to smoke marijuana by their 17 year old uncle and his 18 year old friend. Both the uncle and his friend have, fortunately, been arrested.




After getting over the shock of this video, I started thinking of yet another potential use for DrugWipe. Parents can use to make sure that those taking care of their children are not using illegal drugs.

What a Load of Crop!

A few months ago a report came out calling marijuana the biggest cash crop in the United States. The report estimates that over $35 billion worth of marijuana is produced in this country each year. That's more than the value of corn and wheat combined.

The report, written by marijuana reform activist Jon Getteman, cites a 2005 State Department report which estimates U.S. cannabis cultivation at more than 22 million pounds.

I've noticed a number of news stories recently about house and apartment fires caused by marijuana grow operations. I've also noticed a lot of stories about law enforcement discovering grow operations in well-to-do neighborhoods. It seems growers are paying cash for homes in these nice neighborhoods and turning these large homes into marijuana farms. Based on Mr. Getteman's report, it seems like they're growing a lot of it!

So it's not just meth you have to worry about when it comes to drugs and real estate.

Leaky Drug Testing

Here's an investigative report about the problems of urine testing from a Minnesota TV station. The video can be viewed here. The story can be read here.

The technology that certified labs use to conduct urine tests good, accurate technology. But if lab personnel aren't following the proper guidelines to insure urine samples are not being adulterated, or substituted with clean urine, what good are these tests doing??? Garbage in, garbage out.

Many companies who do extensive urine testing of their employees are often shocked when a facility-wide audit with DrugWipe indicates widespread drug use. After seeing a story like this one about the "leaks" in the system, they shouldn't be.

DROP IN DRUG USE????

According to this AP article, the Drug Czar John Walters is reporting that illegal drug use has dropped sharply since 2001. He cites numbers from a University of Michigan study conducted for the National Institute for Substance Abuse that show a 23% drop in drug use among teenagers. Walters credits drug testing for much of this decline. He also reports that drug use among "older people" dropping as well.

I blogged about studies like this not too long ago. As much as I'd like to believe drug use is dropping in this country, I just can't fathom there's much truth to those numbers.

Spending a good bit of my time swiping down businesses, homes, and schools with DrugWipe and talking to business owners, parents, and school officials about the drug problems they're grappling with, it would be a VERY scary thought that drug use is on the decline. And even if there is some truth to the numbers in this study, we still have a LONG way to go!

MORE NOTES FROM LEBANON

There was another article about our school drug test in Illinois today. You can read the article by clicking the link here.

A few things came to mind as I read the article.

One is that we have a lot of respect for the work that drug dogs and their handlers do. It is truly amazing what these dogs are capable of doing. I hope the article and its focus on the comments of former Lebanon canine patrolman J.D. Beil don’t give anyone the impression that we think the drug dogs are useless. I'm sorry if that's how Patrolman Beil feels, but nothing could be further from the truth.

We are in favor of using whatever tools a school (or parent or business) has at its disposal to detect and deter drug abuse. Especially when it is in teenagers. There are plenty of options out there. Some schools use drug dogs, some schools do random urine testing, some schools sponsor drug education and prevention programs, some schools use DrugWipe, and some schools use a combination of these methods.

We obviously believe there are advantages to using DrugWipe. However, this is not a one or the other, us vs. them situation. It’s about using the available resources effectively to catch drug problems in our youth as early as possible so they get the help they need to lead full, productive lives.

I'd also like to address the comment about finding traces of drugs on paper currency taken out of the wallets of school board members. I think it leaves the impression that DrugWipe is so sensitive that it can detect residue on paper currency, thus can provide misleading results. That’s not the case.

When the technology was originally developed, it was sensitive enough to detect the miniscule amounts of drugs on paper currency. But the manufacturer realized that this would cause problems, including false positives. To avoid this issue of “background contamination”, the manufacturer bumped up the sensitivity of DrugWipe to the nanogram level - one billionth of a gram. At this level DrugWipe is finding narcotic residue from those who are actively engaged in the use or trafficking of illegal drugs. So while a $20 bill that was recently used by someone to snort a line of cocaine would most likely test positive with DrugWipe, the vast majority of bills in circulation would not!

Lastly, to me, the most positive part of the article was the statement that there has “been much talk around town” about our surface assessment at Lebanon High School. That’s awesome. The more people talk about drugs and drug abuse (especially when it’s between parents and their kids), the better. There's a statistic that indicates that talking to your teen on a regular basis about the dangers of drugs cuts their likelihood of using drugs by 42%.

So, please, whether you’re in Lebanon or anywhere else, keep talking!

Lebanon High School Assessment

Yesterday, an assessment we performed at Lebanon High School was covered by all local news stations (here's a link to a clip from KSDK) and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. After trying to get media coverage here locally for over a year, it was really something to have all the local stations and the Post show up at the same time! We're still trying to digest it all, but I have some thoughts on the assessment.

1. Thanks. First, we want to express our appreciation and thanks to the Lebanon School District and Superintendent Harry Cavanaugh for allowing the media to cover the assessment at their school. We'd also like to thank the members of the media for coming out to cover the story and put some attention on the problem of drug use by teens.

2. Courage. There's a lot of denial about drug problems out there and the Lebanon School District was willing to not only take the step to learn about what types of problems they have but to share it with the media. That takes a lot of courage.

3. Common. I wish I could say the results were unexpected. Some people might hear the media report that 8 out of the 17 DrugWipes used tested positive for drugs and be shocked. The results are neither surprising nor uncommon. Unfortunately, we would be hard pressed to go into a school in this country and not find evidence of drug use or trafficking. There is no reason to believe, based on these initial results, that the Lebanon School District has any larger or smaller drug problem than any other school district in the country.

4. Denial. Many school districts would rather just look the other way when it comes to drugs. Administrators and parents would like to believe it's not a problem in their community or with their children. Unfortunately, the problem only gets attention when something bad happens such as the drug bust at Lutheran South here in St. Louis earlier this year or the murder of the Lindbergh High School student by another student who reportedly was a known drug user. While these stories get the big headlines, this is a problem that is going on every day in most high schools (and many middle schools) across the country. Addressing drug use by teenagers is neither easy nor fun. But it is necessary. Most drug addictions start between the ages of 12 and 14. The earlier you can intervene, the better the chance of getting a child back on the right track. Denying that teens use drugs wastes precious time.

5. Reality. Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of surface assessments with DrugWipe is that it makes drug use "real". It takes it from the abstract to an in-your-face, here are the facts of the situation. The bottom line is, if you don't know a problem exists, how can you stop it? DrugWipe makes the problem "real" and lets school administrators and business owners acutely aware of what the problems are, and where they need to focus their attention to address the problem.

6. Focus. While we do not divulge the results of any surface assessments we perform, it was reported by the media that 8 of the 17 DrugWipes we used last night tested positive. This is baseline data that, in and of itself, does not mean much. We will be providing the Lebanon School District with a report soon that details our findings. This will let them see exactly what problems there are by grade level and by gender. This will help them focus their anti-drug efforts on the groups that need it most.

7. Exhaustion. Have you ever tried to do your job with journalists asking you questions, photographers snapping pictures, and video cameras rolling?! Let me tell you, it ain't easy! It was a long afternoon and the calls and emails have already started to come in. Though exhausted, I'm not complaining!

8. Hope. While the Lebanon School District was hoping the tests would reveal no indication of drug use by students, that unfortunately wasn't the case. They found out yesterday that, like most high schools, they do face some problems with student drug use. However, I am hopeful that with this information they will begin to develop a plan to address these issues and provide education, intervention, etc. for the students that need it. That's what this is all about. It's not to go on a witchhunt for students who are using or trafficking drugs and prosecute them. It's for assessing the facts of the situation and using whatever tools are available to help kids stay on the path to a bright, productive future. The fact that the Lebanon School District stepped up to the plate and is facing the issue of student drug use head on, makes me hopeful that's exactly what they are going to do for their students.