drug-test-answers.com » Hair Drug Testing

Usefulness of hair follicle drug testing

drugtest — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:52:13 +0000

Hair follicle drug testing is a method by which it can be tested whether you are drug addicted or not. It is a sure and reliable and accurate way of testing your drug addiction. In your workplace you may have to go through this test and therefore you can test this beforehand. Nothing is good than a sample drug testing. It is a great way of detecting whether or not a person has used drugs in the past 90 days. It can be in home format or office format but it is always useful to know the details of drug addiction. Sample hair drug testing serves the purpose of answering questions about an individual’s drug use history.

Now we have to know how a hair follicle drug testing works. It is actually very simple but it requires a sample of hair to be completed the test. There are lots of ways of detecting that. You can collect a person’s hair from his or her pillow cover secretly. If you are worried about your child’s addiction then you can do this in order to find out the truth. If you are an employer then you have to request your employee to give that strand of hair. Once the sample is collected then it is sent to the particular laboratory and the examination is done there. Hair follicle testing is faster than any other test and more reliable too.

It is reliable because it can detect drug addiction or drug use for upto 90 days. The detection window of this type of test is more accurate and much larger as other test like saliva test and urine test do not have this type of detecting window. Trace amounts of drugs and other chemicals become trapped inside each hair. A simple lab test can detect these trace chemicals making for either a positive or negative test result. Once the test is done you are sent the result notification. Some companies even provide a phone service where you call in, enter an account number and retrieve the results in that way.

Now the question is what kinds of drugs can be detected by hair drug testing. Hair sample drug testing can detect all of the major types of drugs, including marijuana, opiates, methamphetamines, PCP, ecstasy, and cocaine. Hair follicle drug testing can detect the trace amounts of illicit substances trapped in the cortex of the hair for up to 90 days after use. Though hair testing is more expensive than other testing but employers are more prone to this test because of its accuracy and trustworthiness. Employee drug testing programs often incorporate hair follicle drug testing into their plans because of this. A urine drug test kit, for example, can provide a level of accuracy that is nearly ten times that of other testing methods. Likewise, hair follicle drug testing does not involve the embarrassing collection of samples like that of urine or saliva drug tests. A single strand of hair is all that is needed to obtain accurate results.

Drug Testing Methods at Work Place

drugtest — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:12:48 +0000

A drug test is commonly a technical examination to determine the presence or absence of specified drugs or their metabolized traces. According to the Chicago land Chamber of Commerce, “Over 70% of all illicit drug users are employed. Small and medium-sized firms employ 80% of the U.S. workforce where drug testing policies & programs are not in place. Absenteeism, increased health care costs and decreased productivity due to alcohol and other substance abuse cost a company $1,000 per employee per year.” It gives the importance of drug testing at work place.

Primarily there are five methods of drug testing. Those are

. Urine drug testing: Urine drug test is the most common, inexpensive, simple and easy to administer. Urine drug tests are reliable and can be tested individually and at other places.

. Blood drug testing: Blood testing is one of the most accurate drug testing but intrusive and expensive.

. Hair drug testing: When used in right time hair testing gives more accurate results and it is most expensive drug testing.

. Saliva drug testing: Oral drug testing is the simplest form of drug testing, which is increasingly used, as it is the least intrusive test procedure.

. Sweat drug testing: Sweat tests are patches attached to the skin to collect sweat over a long period of time (10–14 days).

Drug testing, and particularly random drug testing is not allowed in every state in the United States. There are certain guidelines mentioned by The Federal Drug-Free Work Place Act of 1988. Following guidelines give the minimum requirements.

. Publish a policy statement prohibiting unlawful use, possession, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances in the workplace;

. Notify employees of said prohibition and the penalty for violating it;

. Establish a drug-free awareness program;

. Provide employees engaged in a contract with a copy of the policy statement;

. Notify employees that compliance with the policy statement is a condition of employment;

. Require (in writing in your policy) employees to notify the employer within five

. Days if they are convicted of a criminal drug statute violation occurring in the workplace;

. Make a good-faith effort to maintain a drug-free workplace through these provisions.

In 2004 SAMHSA proposed a new rule that would allow federal agencies to use sweat, saliva and hair in federal drug testing programs that now only test urine. The proposal would also allow selected specimen testing at the time and place it is collected.

Drug testing has an important role in safety-critical and other occupations where the public is entitled to expect the highest standards of safety and probity. In order to make the workforce free from drug use at work places several new methods are in line under the rules proposed by SAMHSA that are unintrusive, inescapable and yield accurate results.

Why Hair Drug Testing is The Preferred Method For Screening Individuals for Drugs

drugtest — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:08:38 +0000

Hair drug testing is able to detect drug use history as far back as 12 months and also determine the levels of consumption on a monthly basis. Not only can hair drug testing determine someone’s long term usage, hair drug testing technology is more accurate than other forms of drug testing available.

How Hair Drug Test is Performed

Using a small sample of hair cut from a person’s scalp, scientists use special equipment to evaluate special markers on the hair shaft called metabolites that are only produced when drugs are present in a person’s bloodstream.

Why is Hair Drug Testing the Preferred Drug Test?

Hair drug testing has steadily increased in recent years for pre-emptive hiring of employees, random drug tests for safety and is used as crucial evidence in court cases. The advanced technology used in Hair drug testing make it the most accurate form of drug testing on the market today.

Hair drug testing is also close to impossible to tamper with. Bleach, hair dye or other external contaminants will not affect the outcome of the test. Only shaving one’s head will affect the results of the test as there would not be any evidence which to test.

The Benefits of Hair Drug Testing

• Hair drug testing is one of the least evasive forms of drug testing verses urine alcohol testing, sweat or breathalyzers

• Many hair drug testing services notify you by email at every stage in the testing process

• Turnaround time for hair drug tests is 7-10 working days from receipt of samples

• Many hair drug testing services provide an expert witness to appear in court if required

The need for hair drug testing to prove a history of alcohol abuse is just as necessary to disprove any abuse. Several industries are looking into hair drug testing verses urine drug testing as their preferred method. Not only because it’s less invasive but because hair drug testing can show a 30-day history of abuse or lack of abuse, where a urine drug test can only show at the most, a week’s notice. Find out what so many other companies already know when it comes to hair drug testing; get your employees tested right the first time and do it discreetly.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Hair Alcohol Testing and Hair Drug Testing

drugtest — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:33:55 +0000

When you hire your employees, it’s best to do some back ground checks on them, whether it means calling references, looking closely at their resumes and previous lines of work, or asking them to undergo hair drug testing or EtG alcohol testing,.

What Employees Should Know About Alcohol and Drug Screening for Employment

•   Several acceptance letters are contingent on potential employees passing their drug and alcohol tests.

•   It may be an invasive procedure demanding blood, saliva, urine or hair samples.

•   The accurate hair drug tests and EtG alcohol tests used today can reveal up to 12 months of alcohol and drug use.

•   Because second-hand marijuana smoke and crack cocaine can be absorbed into your hair even if you are not doing the drugs, but just by hanging around with people who are doing them- it’s best not to hang around those people if you are looking for a job.

To Prevent Your Drug Test From False Positives

If you are not a drug user and you fail the drug screening, be as straightforward with the employer as possible, let them know that you are not a drug user and ask them if they would please do a confirmation test. The following is a list of over-the-counter medications which have been known to cause false positives in drug testing:

•   Ibuprofen

•   Midol

•   Nuprin

•   Sudafed

•   Vicks Nasal Spray

•   Ephedra and Ephedrine-based products (often used in diet products)

•   Detromethorphan

•   Vicks 44

Employers for doctors, pilots, drivers and other positions demanding 100 percent attention while ensuring the safety and responsibility for other people, want to make absolute certain of who they are investing in. Besides the safety of the public, employers are also concerned about their reputation want to avoid lawsuits.

Screening employees for drug abuse is nothing new. The need to screen employees for alcohol abuse has always been a concern but hardly been possible with previous methods because prior testing methods were inaccurate and therefore a waste of company money.

With hair drug testing and EtG alcohol testing, you can feel confident knowing you hired the right person for the job and the public can feel better knowing that highly certified and respected employees were accurately screened for the benefit of public safety.

Myths in Beating Hair Drug Tests

drugtest — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:03:09 +0000

People who view hair drug testing as a threat for different reasons look for various ways to pass hair drug tests. The popularity of these methods led to an increasing growth of a market niche that help people pass drug testing. You will find numerous places online that claim to have products that can beat different kinds of drug tests from traditional urine and blood tests, to saliva and hair follicle drug testing.

There are many reasons drug dependent individuals will find ways to pass hair drug tests. First, it is mandatory for some companies to seek for drug tests during the employment process. Workplace drug testing has been an ever increasing trend in strengthening the workforce of a company while limiting costs due to inefficient and drug impaired employees. Drug testing is also an initial requirement for college admission via sports scholarship or during a physical competition.

However, are these claims true? In the realm of hair drug testing, online sources claim that there are shampoos and detox liquid solutions to help erase drug residue in the hair. At the same time, there is certain home remedies advertised to pass hair drug testing. Many are led to believe that passing drug tests is easy. While it is true that there is the minute possibility in passing a hair drug tests, many agree that it borders the line of impossibility.

For hair drug tests, there are certain detox shampoos on the market claiming to remove drug traces in hair. Using different ingredients, these shampoos claim to remove common toxins such as marijuana, THC, nicotine, and alcohol right into the scalp of the hair. These shampoos include step-by-step instructions to protect the solution during application.

However, there is no academic basis to these claims. Research have shown that hair as a storage for information can be analyzed up to its smallest parts that it can even detect the use of detoxifying shampoos. In that case, hair drug testers can weed out the cheaters and will have basis to apply blood or urine drug testing.

Another growing myth is that blonde hair has a better chance of passing a hair drug test. This is validated with studies suggesting that melatonin can help increase drug level reading. Since melatonin is more numerous in black hair, it is claimed that people can pass hair drug testing by changing their hair to a lighter color.

However, this is only a superficial solution similar to detox shampoos. All the more, changing the color of your hair does not change the melatonin levels of an originally black hair. People who believe that the ingredients in artificial hair coloring can dissolve drug sufficient enough to pass hair drug testing are therefore invalidated.

Truly, the best way to pass a hair drug test is to not take drugs at all. Resorting to different claims that holds no water will put you in greater trouble than you already are. The best solution is to come clean rather than join the hoopla of assuming that you can pass a hair drug test