What do you do when you need workers but applicants flunk drug tests?

That is happening more often than you may think.

A Lexington County business owner told us she interviewed 20 applicants and all were either unqualified or tested positive for drugs.

New research shows fewer positive tests for prescription painkillers but sharp increases for cocaine and methamphetamine, Quest Diagnostics Inc. reported.

The federal Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 let employers use job-related drug-testing with a rapid decrease in positive tests.

Since the year 2000, the rate has been near 4% on urine tests only.

Positive tests for opiates, such as morphine and oxycodone, dropped sharply by 17% in 2017 from 2016.

Experts say that likely results from the crackdown on illegal or excessive opioid prescriptions, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Positive tests for marijuana rose in states that have recently legalized the drug for medical or recreational use. In Nevada, where voters legalized marijuana, positives were up 43% in 2017.

Quest data found a surge in methamphetamine use in the Midwest, South and parts of the Northeast. Some states, including Nebraska and Idaho, saw sharp increases in cocaine use.

The Quest data contains tests of workers in safety-sensitive jobs, such as pilots, bus drivers and nuclear power plant operators, who are subject to federally mandated testing.