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.
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Drug Testing Methods at Work Place
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The Pros And Cons Of Drug Testing Facilities
Drug testing labs provide accurate results for drug tests in a short period of time. Oftentimes, companies require lab drug tests in order to maintain a safe and healthy work environment for their employees.
Why Are Drug Testing Labs Used?
A drug testing facility is used to detect the use of drugs in the workplace, the home and even in law enforcement. Many times, employers will require a drug testing lab test prior to hiring as a sort of screening. Also, parents may send a sample to a drug test facility in order to discover whether or not their teen is abusing drugs. Drug testing labs are available in many different forms including urine testing, saliva testing, sweat testing and hair testing. After a sample is collected from a donor, the sample is then sent to a drug testing facility and tested for traces of illicit substances.
How Accurate Are Drug Test Facilities?
Drug test facilities provide the most accurate of drug testing options on the market today. However, many on site drug testing products are equaling lab test quality, making for a more price conscious and convenient option for businesses and families who wish to utilize drug testing.
Pros and Cons of Home and Lab Drug Testing
Deciding between using a drug testing lab or a instant drug testing kit can be difficult. Many different factors should be weighed, including the level of required accuracy and reliability, the rate at which results are produced, sample collection and cost. A drug testing facility will typically cost much more than an instant drug testing kit, although its accuracy is often guaranteed. Regardless of the drug testing method used, once a sample is collected, it can be tested immediately with an on site drug test, whereas a drug test facility will require the sample to be sent to the lab-a process which could take up to a week or more.
All in all, on site drug testing is more effective for the average consumer to use. Businesses can save large amounts of money when buying home drug test kits through corporate bulk accounts and are still guaranteed a high level of accuracy.
Worried parents who fret over their teen’s potential abuse of drugs can use at home drug testing kits to find out whether or not they are using on the spot. Waiting for a drug testing lab to return results can be excruciating, especially when it is your child’s health and wellbeing at stake. While a drug testing facility may be the most accurate and reliable form of drug testing, home drug testing kits provide a reliable alternative that save consumers and businesses money, while protecting families and employees alike from the hazards of drug abuse
Urine Testing for Cocaine
A Cocaine drug test is the method or the technique used to know the presence of cocaine in the body. The testing is done by examining various specimen of the human body like the urine, hair, saliva and even sweat.
Types of cocaine Drug Testing: The different types of testing and quantifying of the cocaine content in the human body are
Hair Testing: Hair testing is one of the effective ways of testing for the cocaine content in the human body over a long period of time. Whenever any substance enters the human body, it deposits a residue in the hair shaft, which will show its presence till the hair is cut.
Blood Testing: This is one of the expensive testing for the detection of the cocaine in the human body. This may involve a four to six day program, which may involve us to go for a special diet, regulated fluids and a final detoxifying solution.
Saliva Drug Testing: This method is a short-term procedure which can detect the drugs which are been use recently.
Urine Drug Testing: The analysis of urine is most common and inexpensive method of testing for the presence of cocaine in the human body.
Urine Testing for the Cocaine Detection: Urine testing is mostly preferred when compared to other types of tests for detecting the presence of cocaine in the human body. This is mainly because of the following factors:
· These tests are considered to be the most inexpensive tests.
· These are intrusive methods of testing.
· This test can be done at home.
Cocaine (COC) Dip strip Drug Urine Test: This test is a very simple test for detecting the cocaine content in the human body by testing the urine sample. The qualitative detection of the cocaine content is done with the benzoyelecgonine as the metabolites in the urine sample. The cutoff for the test is 300 ng/ml.
Procedure for the test:
1. Remove the test strip from its foil pouch.
2. Holding the strip vertically, carefully dip it into the specimen. Do not immerse the strip past the maximum line
3. Interpret test results at 3 to 5 minutes.
The result of the test can be interpreted by the colour bands that are visible after the test. If two colour bands are observed then the result is negative where as if only one band is visible then the tests are giving a positive result.
Detection Periods and the factors influencing the tests: The detection of the cocaine content in the human body depends upon various factors. They are
· The amount that is been taken and also the frequency of the usage.
· The metabolic rate also influences the outcome of the tests.
· The body mass also may influence the results of the tests.
· The age of the person who is undergoing the test has the influence on the tests.
· The drug tolerance levels also may vary between person to person and this variation in the tolerance will have the effect.
Detection Period: It takes approximately six to eight hours for detecting the presence of the cocaine in the urine sample. Whatever may be the effects of the above factors, the ideal time period for the clearing of benzoyelecgonine is three to five days so the urine sample collected should be not older than three days.
Urine tests for detecting of the cocaine content is certainly the most cost effective and a simple method for testing. These urine tests have made it easier for detecting the cocaine content in the body, as there are even some methods for doing the tests at the home.
Test Your Employees for Drugs and Alcohol and Take Your Office Off the Statistics List
New alcohol detection drug service testing devices on the market make random testing and pre-employment testing easier and less intrusive than ever. Your business can’t afford to have employees under the influence. Save your reputation, save your employees and get your employees tested.
Instead of random urine tests, employers are looking to drug and alcohol hair testing Recent new discoveries in alcohol testing have suddenly changed how far employers can test someone for alcohol abuse. Alcohol hair testing has opened a window of opportunity for prescreening employers that wasn’t previously available. Not only is hair alcohol testing less intrusive than other forms of testing, it provides a lengthy record of the person’s drug or alcohol habits, or lack of.
According to Alliance for Worldwide Alcohol Research and Education, 5-10% of ingested alcohol is excreted unchanged in urine, sweat, and expired air. The remainder is turned into carbon dioxide and water. For example, a serving of alcohol, or
• a shot of 80 proof alcohol
• a 4 ounce glass of wine
• or 12 ounces of beer
will be completely cleared from the body in approximately 1.75-3.5 hours, depending on the person’s body type, age and gender.
Alcohol hair testing is a fairly new discovery. Hair drug testing has been around for awhile, but until now, urine alcohol testing was the way to test a person for alcohol consumption. Hair testing for drugs use to be the only type of hair testing that had been done, because alcohol testing for hair wasn’t available. Types of alcohol prescreening commonly used before alcohol hair testing and often still used today are urine alcohol testing and saliva testing.
Now there is an accurate way to test for chronic alcohol abuse, where there wasn’t a way before. A metabolite, ethyl glucuronide, (EtG) found in urine as well as hair is only found when a person has consumed alcohol. EtG has been reported to stay in the urine for up to 5 days after drinking, up to 2 days for a single drink and up to 5 days after heavy drinking, well after alcohol itself has been eliminated from the body. For many employers, this 5 day window isn’t enough to prove a real problem.
If You and Your Employees Care About Your Company, They Will Get Tested
According to the national Drug Free Workplace Alliance:
• Alcoholics and problem drinkers are absent from work 3.8 to 8.3 times more often than normal.
• When they do show up, substance abusers are 33 percent less productive and cost their employers
• Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities can be linked to alcohol abuse and alcoholism
Hair alcohol testing is helping to convict the guilty as well as prove the innocent. Prove to your community they can trust your business by showing them a clean bill of health. Get your employees tested and be proud to be drug free.
Drug Testing In A Nutshell
For people who want to have a loved one undergo drug testing or for anyone who just wants to (or has to) go through it, here are some highly important points to take note of. First of all, however, it really is high time for people all across the United States, even the entire world, to put greater importance on the life threatening risks involved when it comes to drugs and substance abuse.
1. Testing: What Works?
As compared to having a drug testing by taking samples of the patient’s blood, it is highly recommended that the medical technician use the patient’s urine. The urine has been proven to be more reliable when it comes to the detection of any drug abuse. Unfortunately, it also a more expensive kind of drug testing. As an added benefit, it is also gives the clearest results; it is very easy for medical technicians to see whether or not a person has taken drugs into one’s system.
One downside of drug testing using urine samples is that it is impossible to accurately say when the patient took the drug. Blood testing is more accurate and this associated information can be derived from a blood sample.
2. Future Techniques: Hair Sampling
Another drug testing technique is through hair testing which is not recommended because a lot of laboratories are finding some difficulty with regards to the reliability of the results especially, as most often than not, drug testing through the hair poses positive results for the patient. A lot of people don’t buy into this kind of drug testing since with the simple act of washing one’s hair as well as being subjected to other hair contaminants an incorrect reading is possible.
3. Problems With Drug Testing:
- Confirming the reliability of the testing – Questionable accuracy of hair testing results – Urine drug testing accuracy highly dependent on how the procedure has been carried out by the medical technician
Unfortunately, most especially during this time wherein more and more people are getting lured into doing drugs as well as other substance abuse, a lot of the clinics that are conducting drug testing all over the United States are not really capable of providing the reliable results that people need due to the rampant mishandling and as well as the improper ways that some clinics conduct their drug testings. Therefore, the top three most reliable aspects that people should need to look for in a drug test for it be considered as reliable: strict collection procedures, proper testing procedures and random notification.
