Mouse Party | The Effects of Drugs on the Brain

The University of Utah built this fun game to briefly show the effects that different drugs have on our brain.

Click here to play the mouse game!

They use a cartoon aquarium full of laboratory mice who are "high" on different drugs. You are the lab worker, and you get to pick up the mice and plop them into a testing mechanism. The mechanism then gives us an insight into the chemical reactions inside the "high" mouses brain. When you are through learning about the drugs effects, the mouse is dropped back into it's cage and you can grab another mouse.

Kind of childish, but it gives us a pretty good idea of what effects different drugs have on our neurological system.

Thanks University of Utah!

Drug Testing Policies

American Toxicology offers services in assisting clients in writing their drug testing policies. It is not uncommon to review a policy and find it deficient in a number of areas. Some are so deficient that it is recommended that the whole policy be rewritten. Unfortunately, some clients have paid a considerable amount of money for their policies which were written by someone else and marketed to be tailored to their needs. An employer, not knowing where to go, can be easily convinced with legal jargon and marketing hype that it is their best interest to buy a policy from someone “who knows what they are doing”.

Well, this is the American way and I can’t be too critical toward someone seeing an opportunity. However, selling drug testing policies is a relatively new enterprise. Some laboratories have been assisting employers with drug testing since the days of the Nixon Administration when it all began. I cannot specifically speak for other laboratories, but American Toxicology is willing to assist clients in this area at no charge. It is in our best interest to have clients with good drug testing policies.

Basically, a good policy must have two competent components – the company and the laboratory. No matter how competent one of them may be, if the other one is not, the policy will fail to give protection from liability. Drug testing is a team effort between the company and the laboratory. Unfortunately, some employers are very loose on this philosophy, until they get themselves into litigation. Then things change rather rapidly.

I have seen policies, especially in the gaming industry, where the competency of one or both of these components are lacking to the point that the drug testing conducted only works if it does not go to court. The main motivation for an employer to knowingly have such a program is to reduce costs. These companies literally operate on the edge. To them, drug testing is viewed primarily as a public relations expense. There is little fear of legal reprisal.

American Toxicology’s motto is that we only do that which we will win in court. We have had to make some tough decisions concerning this position. However, we feel it is a worthy standard to hold.