Atlanta accident lawyers will be pleased to know that the Department of Transportation has posted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, which deals with stricter testing for drug use.
The NPRM proposes a number of measures that are designed to prevent commercial motor vehicle drivers abusing drugs from slipping through the cracks.The NPRM proposes initial testing for 6-acetylmorphines, and lowering the cut off for cocaine and amphetamines. The idea is to align testing standards with the testing standards of Health and Human services. According to the HHS, such testing would help identify approximately 10% of drug users in the commercial driver population, who currently remain unidentified.
Truck drivers are at a higher risk of amphetamine abuse. These drugs are used to induce alertness, helping truckers stay awake for longer periods of time. Use of stimulants like methamphetamines can have serious side effects. The person may begin to feel extremely drowsy as the drug’s effects begin to wear off, with serious consequences. Employers can now identify drivers who had been using these drugs, but had remained unidentified because of the higher cut off points.