Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry News
First cannabis roadside testing device to be approved
As Canada quickly approaches the finalization of the legalization of cannabis, included in Bill C-46 which was passed in June, they have authorized the first roadside oral fluid testing devices along with making numerous changes to impaired driving laws. The oral...
Canadian police scrambling to ready for impairment testing
It is now unlikely, according to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, that two thousand officers will be adequately trained in time to identify drug-impaired drivers in preparation for the October 17th legalization of cannabis across Canada. This is not...
Are video games the future of impairment testing?
In an effort to determine whether employees are fit to perform in specific safety sensitive positions, some workplaces are now asking employers to play video games before starting work. A short test, the “video game” tests the player’s ability to classify shapes...
Legalization promises a boom for Alberta
Testing and research laboratories across Canada are preparing for the October 17th legalization of cannabis, expecting a boom in business once recreational cannabis is finally made legal. Canada has forty two laboratories that are authorized to test and research...
Marketing of opioids to end in Canada
In response to a call to action from Canadian Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, wherein she asked pharmaceutical companies to restrict their marketing of dangerous opioids in light of the climbing death toll from opioid abuse across the country, Oxycontin’s...
Opioid alternatives ineffective and potentially harmful
Canadian medical professionals are trying to substitute alternative drugs for back pain in an effort to stem the opioid addiction crisis sweeping across North America; unfortunately, many of these alternative prescriptions, according to a study by the Canadian Medical...
B.C. Cannabis producers concerned about being shut out of market
Small-scale cannabis producers in British Columbia could be denied access to the impending legal market if the federal and provincial governments don’t make essential changes to the legalization policy. In an open letter to federal justice minister Jody...
How drug addiction hijacks the brain
The human brain is naturally wired to reward itself with the "feel-good" neurotransmitter dopamine when its basic needs of food, water, and sex are met. Addiction taps into this reward system to "trick" the brain into wanting more. This is why opioids like fentanyl...
Cannabis Legal as of October 17, 2018
It’s official: recreational marijuana will be legal across all provinces and territories of Canada as of October 17th, 2018. Originally, the cannabis legalization date had been set for July, but confrontation between the Red Chamber and the House of Commons as well as...