Advantages of Hair Drug Tests

drugtest — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:09:53 +0000

Hair drug testing is one of the convenient means of detecting drug abuse. This test can be performed almost at any place of your choice. Hair drug test is so accurate that it is almost impossible to adulterate the test samples. It is very simple to perform and detect five major drugs that are cocaine, marijuana, opiates, methamphetamine and phencyclidine.

Advantages of Hair Drug Testing:

Hair sample drug test is efficient in determining an individual’s drug use history (up to 90 days) when compared with other drug tests, as the trace amounts of drug chemicals will get trapped inside the cortex of each hair. The following are some of the advantages of hair drug testing.

Ease of use:

The process of hair drug test is very easy. All that’s needed is a few strands of hair, taken close to the root. Once the sample is selected from the donor, it is placed in the specimen container. It is then send to the laboratory for testing. Hair follicle drug testing does not involve embarrassing collection of samples like that of other drug tests, and is most preferred by the corporates.

Long duration of detection:

Hair drug tests can detect drug abuse for longer periods than the other drug tests. Hair sample drug test is efficient in determining an individual’s drug abuse history when compared with other drug tests because trace amounts of drug chemicals get trapped inside cortex of each hair.

Difficult to adulterate:

It is highly impossible to adulterate test samples. Donors cannot cheat the test by changing the samples, because the sample is collected from the donor in the presence of the test supervisors. Adulteration of the specimen cannot beat hair tests unlike other types of drug tests.

Detects five major drugs:

A hair drug test can detect five major drugs, which include cocaine (cocaine & benzoylecgonine), marijuana, opiates (codeine, morphine & 6-monacteyl morphine), methamphetamine (methamphetamine & ecstasy), and phencyclidine (PCP). Hair drug screen is the method for detecting drugs in hair using enzyme-immunoassay (EIA), which is an industry standard for reliable and accurate drug testing.

Employee drug testing programs often incorporate hair follicle drug testing into their plans because of the sheer accuracy of these tests. Likewise, hair follicle drug testing does not involve the embarrassing collection of samples like that of urine or saliva drug tests. In most cases, a few strands of hair is all that is needed to obtain accurate results.

Know About Opiate Drug Testing

drugtest — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:44:27 +0000

Opiates are one of the most addictive drugs with sedative and analgesic effects, which depress the central nervous system. According to the TEDS report, opiates are the primary substance of abuse and accounted for almost one-fifth (19 percent) of all substance abuse treatment admissions in 2007. Some common opiates are morphine, codeine and heroin, of which heroin is the major illegal drug. According to NSDUH, there were about 114,000 persons aged 12 or older who used heroin for the first time within the past 12 months in 2008.

Opiates is one of the five metabolite groups called SAMHSA-5 that can be tested for workplace drug testing under SAMHSA guidelines. The opiate drug tests detect the presence of codeine, morphine, and 6-acetyl-morphine. The presence of 6-acetyl-morphine shows recent heroin abuse.

Urine drug testing:

Urine test is a common method of detecting opiate and its metabolites in urine specimen. Morphine can be detected in urine for 2 days, codaine for 2 to 3 days and heroin for 3 to 4 days. The cutoff concentration for initial test of opiate metabolites is 2000ng/mL. The confirmatory cut off level for morphine and codeine are 2000ng/mL and 10ng/mL for 6-acetylmorphine.

Hair drug testing:

Many opiates can be detected using hair tests. Hair tests require a sample of hair about 90 to 120 strands. The standard hair screen uses the most recent 1.5 inches of growth for testing. Hair tests detect substance abuse over a long period. Morphine, codeine and heroin can be detected for up to 90 days using hair tests. The initial cutoff level for opiate metabolites is 200 pg/mg and confirmatory cutoff value is also 200 pg/mg.

Saliva drug testing:

Saliva tests are easy to administer and adulteration of the specimen can be avoided. Morphine and heroin can be detected in saliva for 1 to 2 days and codeine for 2 to 3 days. The initial cutoff concentration level for opiate metabolites is 40ng/mL. The confirmatory test cutoff level for Morphine and codeine are 40ng/mL each and 4 ng/mL for 6-acetylmorphine.

Opiate abuse continues be a serious threat to public health. The above information will surely help you to understand different methods of opiate drug testing and choose the better one to detect this harmful drug without much hassle.

drug-test-answers.com » Hair Tests

Advantages of Hair Drug Tests

Know About Opiate Drug Testing