By: Dr Tim Laurens, PhD, PhD

1) Most companies’ Drug and Alcohol testing policy is insufficient for the management of risk and is also not legally defensible mainly because it unlawfully and incorrectly addresses the testing protocols.

Sterile ante-mortem blood specimens were spiked with ethanol at the South African blood alcohol legal concentration limits of 0.20 g/L and 0.50 g/L and were stored in tubes containing sodium fluoride…

Prohibited substance regulation and compliance testing programmes are required to minimise risks to health and safety in the workplace due to inappropriate use of legal (alcohol, cannabis) and illegal substances. A compliance drug test is in principle an invasive biomedical intervention which infringes on the autonomy and other rights of the individual giving rise to ethical dilemmas.

Cannabis use, possession, and cultivation by an adult for private use in a private dwelling were legalised in South Africa (SA) in a ground-breaking High Court decision.

Written by Dr Tim Lourens