Björklöv P., Dalén P., Ståhle L.

Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Technology, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, SE-14186 Huddinge, Sweden

Methods. The results from two questionnaires are cited here. The first was part of a governmental official report (SOU 1996:63) and the second was a survey directed towards companies and other workplaces with more than 500 employees which was carried out by our department. Finally, the statistics from the laboratory at the department of Clinical Pharmacology at Huddinge Hospital are reported which includes yearly statistics on the number of drug tests and the number of positive tests.

Results. In the governmental official report it was found that drug testing is required by the private companies more often than by the authorities, county councils and similar employers. Also, larger companies require drug testing more often than small companies. However, in practice it is more common with drug testing for non-private employees compared to private empoyees but still larger companies tested more often than small ones. In our own survey made 1993 and 1994 it was found that 46% of the companies had performed drug tests (1994) while only 28% did drug tests (1993). The statistics on drug tests from the laboratory shows a steady increase in the number of analyses made from 1993-1996. For each year the number of analyses is 470, 3067, 8117, 16819 and 23114. The tests includes cannabinoids, amphetamine, cocaine and opioids as the most commonly analysed compounds which together accounts for about 95% of the tests. The number of positive tests was about 1%.

Conclusions. It is concluded that workplace drugtesting is rapidly increasing in Sweden and that both private and non-private employees are subject to testing. Large companies with well developed anti-drug use programs are the most frequent users of drug testing.