Synthetic and other drugs

The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) announced August 30, 2016 that it intends to add the opioids Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, also known as Kratom, to the list of Schedule I drugs under the federal Controlled Substances Act because Kratom poses an imminent hazard to public safety.

Kratom is a tropical tree indigenous to Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar,

The National Safety Council (“NSC”) has published a report entitled Prescription Pain Medications: A Fatal Cure For Injured Workers, urging employers to educate employees about the dangers of using opioid pain medications – such as addiction and death – while also taking steps to avoid potential liability in workers’ compensation and personal injury litigation.

The

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) proposed new guidelines in the Federal Register on May 15, 2015 that would revise the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs in two significant ways: (1) to permit the testing of oral fluid specimens for drugs; and (2) to include drug testing for