This week’s drug and alcohol news brings some troubling developments for workplace safety professionals, alongside concerning trends that employers need to understand to protect their teams effectively.
Spice Contamination in School Vapes Raises Workplace Concerns
The most alarming story this week comes from researchers at the University of Bath, who found that up to one quarter of vapes confiscated in English secondary schools contain spice – the dangerous synthetic cannabinoid. This isn’t just a schools problem; it’s a clear indication that spice contamination is entering the mainstream market through social media promotion.
For employers, this represents a significant blind spot. Workers who think they’re using standard nicotine vapes could unknowingly be consuming psychoactive substances that dramatically impair their ability to work safely. The unpredictable nature of synthetic cannabinoids makes this particularly dangerous – effects can range from severe agitation to complete incapacitation.
Police also uncovered a THC production lab in a Barnsley garden shed this week, highlighting how easily these operations can be established to contaminate seemingly legitimate products.
Ketamine Crisis Continues to Escalate
The campaign by Tracy Marelli, whose daughter Sophie died from ketamine addiction, continues to highlight the growing workplace implications of this substance. Her push for reclassification to Class A status reflects the reality many employers are facing: ketamine use is becoming increasingly normalised whilst its dangers are severely underestimated.
This week also saw reports of someone accepting they would die from their ketamine addiction, demonstrating how quickly this substance can progress from recreational use to life-threatening dependency. For safety-critical industries, even occasional ketamine use can pose serious risks due to its dissociative effects and potential for psychological dependence.
Cocaine Supply Chains Under Pressure
Several major operations were disrupted this week, including Operation Venetic which saw a crime group jailed for over 111 years combined for attempting to smuggle 600 kilos of cocaine via yacht, plus importing over half a tonne of cannabis. Meanwhile, an elderly man was jailed for six years for hiding £600,000 worth of cocaine in his mobility scooter.
These disruptions may affect street-level purity and pricing, potentially driving users towards more dangerous alternatives or adulterants.
International Developments with UK Implications
Research from Vancouver’s Drug User Liberation Front suggests providing “clean” drugs to prevent overdoses, whilst psilocybin studies show two-thirds of participants remained depression-free five years after treatment. These developments signal potential future policy changes that could affect workplace drug testing approaches.
More immediately relevant is the finding that regular cannabis users showed no driving impairment after 48 hours of abstinence in the largest such study to date. This research could influence how employers approach cannabis testing policies, particularly for safety-critical roles.
Research Roundup
Several studies this week have workplace relevance:
- Young adults combine cannabis with heavy drinking more frequently during periods of depression and anxiety, suggesting workplace mental health support could reduce polysubstance use risks
- Veterans showed 41% reduced death risk when given financial incentives to pass drug tests, highlighting the potential of workplace support programmes
- Research on alcohol and liver cell regeneration suggests damage may persist even after cessation, relevant for health screening programmes
Looking Ahead
The contamination of mainstream products with dangerous substances like spice represents a fundamental shift in workplace drug risks. Traditional approaches that assume workers know what they’re consuming may no longer be sufficient.
Employers need to consider whether current testing protocols adequately capture these emerging threats and whether education programmes address the reality that workers may unknowingly consume dangerous substances through contaminated products.
ZoomTesting continues to monitor these developments closely, ensuring our drug testing solutions evolve with the changing landscape. For advice on adapting your workplace drug testing programme to address these emerging risks, contact our team of experts who understand both the science and the practical challenges facing UK employers today.
Photo by Anthony Cunningham for Zoom Testing
