Mapping drug use in the U.S. workforce

Which drugs are popular in my county? How does workplace drug use in my state compare to the rest of the country? Has drug use in the American workforce changed significantly during the past decade? Employers, media, government, and policymakers frequently look to Quest Diagnostics for insights about their specific geographies. These inquiries are especially prevalent this year with workplace drug use at a 12-year high.

Powered by data from the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™ (DTI), our new interactive map illustrates workplace urine drug test positivity by drug type for the past 10 years. You can search all 50 states for the six of the most common illicit substances: 6-AM (heroin metabolite), amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, opiates, and phencyclidine (PCP.) This innovative tool drills down to positivity percentages by 3-digit zip code and helps to depict regional, drug, and time-based positivity rate changes.

Reporters covering latest DTI findings used the map to compare local drug use trends to the national average, which vary by state and by drug preference. For example:

• The Washington Post reported that the first two states to legalize marijuana, Colorado and Washington, outpaced the national average for urine drug test marijuana positivity.
• Illinois’ positive drug test rate matched the national average, though employees’ drugs of choice vary widely in different parts of the state, according to The Chicago Tribune.
• Positivity rates were higher than the national 4.2 percent positivity rate in Kansas (5.1 percent) and Missouri (4.9 percent), wrote The Kansas City Star.
• Baltimore workers tested positive 2.5 times more often for heroin than workers nationally and more than 30 percent more often than the national average for marijuana, according to The Baltimore Sun.
• Alabama and Oregon had the highest rates of drug use with 6.3 percent, and Hawaii had the lowest rates at just 2.7 percent, reported Vice.
• California’s positivity rate of 3.9 percent was lower than the national rate, according to Daily Republic.
• Four percent of New York workers tested positive for drugs in 2016, which is lower than the national average according to Newsday.
• NJ.com reported that a greater percentage of New Jersey employees flunked their work-related drug tests last year than in at any point since 2002.

To see how your hometown ranks, search by zip code at QuestDiagnostics.com/DrugMap.

For more information about drug testing, visit our website or contact us online.