The use of so-called problematic substances — essentially alcohol and performance-impairing drugs — by safety-critical personnel is a threat to aviation safety, which is why the industry and its regulators have developed several preventive measures, the most established of which is drug and alcohol testing.
“Problematic substances include alcohol, opiates, cannabis, benzodiazepines (such as Valium), cocaine, hallucinogens, and others,” says Dr. David Powell, medical adviser at the International Air Transport Association. “Alcohol is of the greatest concern to safety internationally; experience suggests this to be more likely than all other drugs combined to have a safety impact.”
According to Thomas Hafner of DISA Global Solutions, a U.S.-based company that provides drug and alcohol testing, the most common drugs tested for in urinalysis are marijuana, cocaine, opioids, amphetamines, PCP [phencyclidine], barbiturates, benzodiazepines, propoxyphene, methadone, and meth…
