DOT Considers Fentanyl Testing
It has been referred to as the silent killer. Fentanyl. Normally used in microdoses as an analgesic in hospitals, it has been used by druglords to stretch their supply of narcotics, often to lethal effect. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is now considering adding fentanyl to its list of tested drugs, as it is often described as being an order of magnitude stronger than morphine.
Details
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the DOT announced that it is working to add fentanyl testing to drug testing regulations for commercial drivers via urine sampling.
Should it pass, the standard for being negative will be significantly smaller than for other drugs: while morphine has a standard of 4,000 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), fentanyl would only entail one ng/mL.
The DOT cites the Department of Health and Human Services:
“Fentanyl accounts for a large proportion of overdose deaths in the United States and is therefore an important public safety concern. Furthermore, fentanyl is increasingly used as a stand-alone substance of abuse, not in conjunction with heroin and other substances as was common in the past. According to the National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) 2021 report, fentanyl was the 4th most frequently identified drug and accounted for 11.61% of all drugs reported by forensic laboratories.”
While overdose deaths are common with fentanyl, even microdoses normally applied at hospitals can be dangerous behind the wheel. Symptoms include a feeling of a sense of euphoria and invincibility, and slowed reaction time: a deadly combination when applied to a multi-ton truck.
Conclusion
The entire Notice is thousands of words long, so our article on it is but a snapshot of the entire story. The DOT is accepting comments on its Notice until October 17th, if you want to provide comments as to why (or why not) fentanyl drug testing should be a part of the standard routine, perhaps becoming a member of the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, you can leave your comments until that time, where they may become part of the consideration as to whether or not to move forward.
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