DRUG TESTING METHODS

There are many types of drug tests available on the market today, but which one is right for you and your family? The following three drug testing methods work well in the home setting and require little to no experience.

URINE DRUG TESTING

Urine drug testing is the most commonly used drug testing type in the home, among employers and law enforcement. Urine tests can detect drugs in your child’s system for up to three days after use, but it has been known to detect drugs all the way up to 30 days after use. If you are unsure as to when the drug use took place, but believe it happened in the last few days, a urine drug test is perfect for your situation. They can detect all of the major drug types at once, or you also have the option to test for a single drug. Additionally, urine drug testing kits are simple and easy to use. Just be sure to stay close by while your teen provides a urine sample and if necessary, have them perform the test more than once.

One of the major shortcomings of urine drug testing is the ability to cheat or adulterate the results. In fact, there is a whole industry designed to help people cheat. Some methods people use include providing a fake urine sample, substituting someone else’s urine or adding chemicals to the urine to attempt to adulterate the results. If your son or daughter comes to expect the drug tests they may try to adulterate the results, so practicing random drug testing is an ideal way to identify drug use in your home along with ensuring the tests you use have built-in adulteration detection.

SALIVA DRUG TESTING

Saliva drug testing is ideal to use on the day you suspect drug abuse has occurred, since they can detect drug use within hours. For example, your teen arrives home late after a night out with friends. All you need to do is place the spoon collector in their mouth and then place it in the testing device. The results are ready within minutes.

These test kits are easy to use, non-invasive and provide fast and accurate results, however, if your teen also smokes cigarettes or chews gum often, the test results may be compromised. Even so, these tests are hard to adulterate and if necessary you can take an additional sample and send it in for lab confirmation and receive a full report on the results.. Saliva drug tests are most suited for testing very recent drug use, as they detect drug use upto 48 hours.

HAIR DRUG TESTS

Hair drug tests are by far the most accurate consumer drug test on the market. They are not easy to adulterate – as it is the core of the hair which is tested. Shampoos, bleach, or diet will not effect the results. There are, of course, bleaches and shampoos that exist designed to cheat the test, but nothing has ever been scientifically proven to work in adulterating a hair test. Furthermore, you have the ability to test for possible drug use for up to 90 days, as opposed to urine and saliva testing which will only allow you to test from a few hours to a few weeks after use. Hair testing can be more costly and requires the sample to be sent to the lab for testing, however the results can provide you with very vital information e.g. The amount of drug(s) in the donor’s system as well as what type of user the donor is., i.e. a low, medium or high user.. Unlike urine and saliva testing, hair drug tests can be performed discretely and a small sample of hair is all that is needed. Though we encourage you to let them know, your child or teen doesn’t even have to be aware they’re being tested. This way, you don’t have to make accusations or create conict until you know for sure if your child is using drugs.

Hair drug tests can detect a variety of drug types, but be sure to check the packaging before purchase to make sure it detects the drug of most concern to you. These testing kits require an inch-and-a-half of hair, each half inch representing 30 days, which not only makes it one of the most effective testing methods in revealing drug abuse but it also enables you to test your child 365 days out of the year, with a quick, simple test every 90 days (or three months). However, keep in mind that a hair test will not detect drug use within the last 7 days, as the hair needs time to grow, so even if you obtain negative results from the hair test, a saliva test could prove to test positive.