MediNat Australia

Vicky Validakis Australian Mining Fair Work Commission supports the use of Saliva Drug Tests Testing the urine of workers in order to detect drug and alcohol use has been banned by the Fair Work Commission which found employees at Endeavour Energy are to be tested using saliva swabs instead. Last week the Fair Work Commission refused Endeavour Energy's bid to urine test its 2635 employees. The commission labelled the use of urine tests “unjust and unreasonable” in a case which could have wider implications for a range of industries, including mining. Endeavour Energy launched the latest legal action in October last year, with the matter heard in the Fair Work Commission in December. The company was attempting to vary the original decision, which required the use of oral testing, with urine based testing. The Electrical Trades Union said the decision confirmed two previous court rulings that found the use of urine test was unfair because it could detect drug u

By Babs McHugh ABC Rural Miners preference Saliva Drug Tests over Urine Drug Tests A union plans to mount a legal challenge against urine testing for drugs on mine sites. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has called it intrusive and degrading and wants urine tests replaced with saliva tests. Secretary of the West Australian branch, Steve McCartney, says saliva tests are used by police and the judiciary and should be implemented on mine sites. "Now we've got the technology that proves saliva testing works, why would we have our members subjected the indignity of having to do a urine test?" he said. "Not only a urine test, but a urine test in company (of others) or under camera surveillance. "So there's an issue for our members that's there somebody from the company standing around while you're urinating in front of them, while there's a test that proves the same fitness for work by simply putting a stick

Influx of deadly synthetic drugs sets off alarm bells Rory Callinan, Investigative journalist, The Age Academics and law enforcement officers have expressed growing alarm about the tide of synthetic drugs that have claimed five lives, including three students, in 14 months. Amid a proliferation of drugs designed by sophisticated overseas laboratories to mimic LSD, cannabis and methamphetamines, one academic forecasts worse is to come. Law officials also point out the difficulties in outlawing the drugs when laboratories regularly change the chemical composition to avoid bans. The acting chief executive of the Australian Crime Commission, Paul Jevtovic, says: ''The reality is we can't keep up. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has found that, since 2011, we are seeing a new drug in this category every week.'' Governments, including Victoria's, have been trying to outlaw the trade by banning any substa

Exercise may cause you to fail drug test Darren Osborne ABC I f you smoke cannabis and then exercise the next day, be warned - you could fail a random drug test. That's the finding from a team of Australian researchers looking at the long-lasting effect of the active component in cannabis, known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is a lipophilic compound, meaning it dissolves in fat molecules. Previous studies have shown that it can be stored in the body for at least 28 days, with some former heavy cannabis users still showing traces of THC in their body six months later. Professor Iain McGregor, from the University of Sydney's School of Psychology , says he was prompted into studying the long-lasting effects of THC after hearing numerous cases of people claiming not to have recently used cannabis, yet had high levels of the active compound in their urine or blood. "The common dominator in all these scenarios was that the people were burning fat,"

Leading the pack on recreational drugs Amy Corderoy, Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald from The Age, June 22, 2013  A new policy will deal with drugs as a health issue, not a criminal one, writes Amy Corderoy. At first glance, it resembles your typical focus group. A free feed, $20, and a gift card - all to have your every thought poked and prodded for a few hours. "It was just that out-of-hours corporate focus group experience," says Brendan*. "But this time we got stoned". They want the highs to actually be legal, and low risk.  The 30-year-old Auckland man is part of a small group of New Zealanders preparing for the introduction in August of radical new drug laws. His country will soon become the first to regulate new recreational drugs based solely on their harms. Brendan's focus group is one of the first steps in this process. "The possibility of being involved in legitimate drug sales, five or 10 years ago I would hav

Sellers' addiction to profits driving drugs market Amy Corderoy Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald, Article published in The Age June 22, 2013 Australians are spending more than $7 billion each year on illicit drugs, according to groundbreaking research from the Bureau of Statistics. Drug experts and campaigners say the data shows attempts to police the ''war on drugs'' are completely dwarfed by the population's demand for the products, with Australians spending about seven times more buying drugs in 2010 than governments spent enforcing drug laws. And the vast majority of the billion-dollar market is going directly into the pockets of drug manufacturers and retailers, with early analysis from the ABS staff research project showing profit margins of more than 80 per cent. The chief executive of drug harm minimization group Anex, John Ryan, said he was staggered to see how big the drug market actually was. "The drug market is clear

Urine drug test direction was reasonable: Full Bench http://www.workplaceohs.com.au A worker repudiated his contract of employment when he refused to comply with a lawful and reasonable direction to submit to a urine drug test, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has confirmed. When RB refused to do so, he was advised in writing that his employment would be terminated unless he changed his position. However, RB persisted with his refusal to undergo the urine test and was dismissed. Subsequently, RB lodged an unfair dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission. He argued that the A&DM Policy was concerned with testing employees for impairment at work only, and thus a direction for him to undergo a urine test, being a test that was incapable of detecting impairment, was not reasonable. RB relied on the fact that AS 4308, the Australian Standard for drug testing urine, states that ‘[t]his standard has no relevance to impairment’. In April 2013, Fair Work C