Opiate Drug Testing Information
All opiates including opium, heroin, codeine, morphine, and many opiate-based prescription drugs metabolize (biologically break down) as Morphine (MOR). (The synthetically manufactured opiate, methadone, metabolizes as methadone [MTD] and is therefore detected by a different drug test.) Following are the latest results of urine drug test detection times studying various opiates:
- Drug detection times for MOR by a urine drug test may be less than 24 hours to more than three days.
- Opiate drug detection times for a saliva drug test are generally two to three days although opiate drug test detection times for saliva testing can be similar to opiate drug test detection times for urine.
- Most current studies do not distinguish between various types of opiates.
- There are many factors that influence opiate drug detection times including the body�s metabolism, but especially duration, frequency, amount of opiate used and method of administration.
Opiates (including opium, heroine, morphine, and codeine) are derived from the opium poppy. Opiate derivatives are found in many prescription drugs usually prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain (including oxycodone, branded as OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, and Tylox). Morphine (MOR) is also the metabolite (biologically broken down in the body) of all opiates. We offer several different products that test for the presence of opiates (MOR).
Before you purchase an opiate drug test, decide on an opiate (MOR) concentration, AKA cut-off level:
- 300 ng/ml cut-off detects a lower MOR level that may include typical prescription doses of MOR.
- 2000 ng/ml cut-off detects a higher MOR concentration that may indicate use of illicit opiates, prescription misuse, and addiction.
The following should be used only as an FYI and not intended as a recommendation because there are many exceptions:
- 2000 ng/ml is the cut-off for most pre-employment drug tests. It is the DOT (Department of Transportation) and NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) standard for most (but not all) employment screening. The higher cut-off level is used to prevent detection of normally prescribed doses.
- Hospitals and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are examples of institutions that regularly test for the 300 ng/ml concentration. Many employers will test employees at this level if the position poses a safety risk.
- Your HR department should be able to tell you at which level they test for various positions. Most drug screening laboratories will tell you which cut-off level is used for specific industries, companies, and government agencies.
It is also important to keep in mind that drug detection, especially prescription drug detection can be tricky because many factors contribute to the outcome including specific drug formula, frequency of use, duration of use, dosage, and time lapse since last ingestion. Also, as with administration any home drug test, urine specimens suggesting positive results should be confirmed with a more specific method such as GC/MS testing at a professional laboratory.
