By Bill Current, President & Founder
Being Current: 25 Years in the Making—Lessons Learned About Why Drug Testing Is So Valuable
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Author’s Note: I founded the Current Consulting Group (CCG) in September of 1998, nearly 25 years ago. We will celebrate our 25th anniversary each month with articles, webinars, and discounts on CCG services. Check our website and LinkedIn page for updates. Each of our monthly newsletters will feature a special article entitled “Being Current: 25 Years in the Making” on some of the most important things I’ve learned about drug testing and about being in business since I started the #1 consulting firm in the industry two-and-a-half decades ago.
Lesson #11: Thank You Donna Smith
To my surprise, I recently learned that I had been nominated for the NDASA Hall of Fame. NDASA stands for National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association and its membership consists of companies that provide drug testing services and employers who rely on drug testing. My nomination was a humbling experience because, among other reasons, I was nominated along with some outstanding people whom I have admired throughout my career (see the box).
The 2023 NDASA Hall of Fame inductee was Dr. Donna Smith, which was announced during a special Hall of Fame Induction ceremony at NDASA’s annual conference in Bellevue, Washington. While my career to date spans 34 years, Donna has been at it for more than 45 years. She started out by helping the Dept. of Army start its drug testing program in the late 1970s and ‘80s, then the Dept. of Defense, and ultimately the Dept. of Transportation (DOT), which many people in the world of drug testing consider to be her true claim to fame.
Donna was one of the chief architects of the DOT drug and alcohol testing regulations that for 35-plus years have helped to keep the transportation industry largely drug-free and the traveling public safe on the ground, in the air, and on the water. That’s quite a legacy. Today, employers covered by the DOT regulations conduct more than 6 million drug tests a year.
But for me and many, many others, Donna Smith’s greatest contribution to the drug testing industry has been her endless generosity of time and expertise answering countless questions no matter how complicated or simple. And that’s where my path originally crossed with Donna’s. In 1989, I started a job at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the staff director of a newly established coalition called the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace. I knew nothing about drug testing, but within a short period I was on the road making presentations and writing articles about what employers could do to establish a drug-free workplace program.
Once I learned who Donna Smith was, I sought her advice and knowledge every chance I got. She was patient in explaining complex issues in ways that even a true beginner could understand. I sounded a lot smarter at the time than I was thanks to Donna.
Perhaps the most important thing I learned from Donna and something I have repeated countless times during my career is when it comes to drug testing, do it right or don’t do it all. I don’t know who originally made that statement, probably Donna, but it’s really why NDASA exists (as well as the Substance Abuse Program Administrators Association), to help drug testing providers better understand how to help their clients conduct drug testing the right way.
Whether lab-based testing using oral fluid, urine or hair, or point-of-collection testing (POCT) with oral fluid or urine, there is a right way to conduct drug testing. The federal government’s regulations for drug and alcohol testing, 49 CFR part 40, provide a gold standard. Many of its procedural requirements can be applied to a non-government-mandated program, including with a POCT device. A sample collected properly, a presumptive positive result confirmed at a laboratory, and a confirmed positive result verified by a Medical Review Officer ensure an accurate and legally defensible result. There is integrity in an employer’s program that applicants and employees can count on when drug testing is done right.
One of Donna’s sons is a captain with Southwest Airlines and every time he’s randomly chosen for a drug test he calls to sarcastically thank his mother. With all sincerity, the rest of us can thank Donna for her lifetime of service and for helping to make America’s highways and byways, as well as its workplaces, safer. Welcome to the NDASA Hall of Fame, Donna.
NDASA Hall of Fame Nominees
Betye Bailey
Bill Current
Dr. David Kuntz
Tom Pool
David Siegel
Elaine Taule
Helen White
Colleen Wienhoff
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