Crackdowns on cocaine traffickers in Mexico and Colombia are credited with a drop in cocaine use by U.S. workers to the lowest rate in at least a decade, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. A special report from Quest Diagnostics, a leading provider of workplace drug testing, is the source of the Office data: pre the report, positive test results for cocaine are down 16 percent from last year. But since the report only includes testing for cocaine and no other drugs, it begs the question: Are workers actually getting off drugs and lining up across the country for treatment at drug rehab centers, or are they using something other than cocaine?

Federal intelligence and law enforcement sources note cocaine shortages in 37 U.S. cities during the first 6 months of 2007, with rapid increases in the price of cocaine – in some instances even doubling.

Declines in cocaine abuse by U.S. workers during that same period were in the double digits in most of the nation, according to the Quest report, and were greatest in New England and the Middle Atlantic States, plus a region formed by Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

It’s good news that cocaine supplies are dwindling and prices are soaring. But whether or not this indicates a decline in overall drug use remains unknown. It would be good to know how many regular cocaine users are actually drug free now, or if they are substituting other drugs to get a cocaine-type kick. Test results that include other types of drugs, particularly drugs that cocaine users might favor, would help get the whole picture. It would also tell us what other drugs are being used so action can be taken to reduce their availability as well.

One class of drugs to look at might be prescription drugs. Emergency rooms and drug rehab centers have seen a steady rise in prescription drug addiction and abuse, and quite a number of such drugs could be attractive to cocaine users.

While illegally-produced drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine are tough to eradicate, prescription drugs are everywhere and their abuse is widespread. Until the availability of illicitly-obtained prescription drugs is brought under control, our national drug problem is not going to go away – regardless of how many people are testing positive for cocaine.

If the 16 percent drop in America’s cocaine-abusing workforce means that some people are getting into a successful drug rehab program to handle their cocaine abuse, that’s good news indeed. But only when we test for all drugs will we have the true picture.