Drug testing can be performed on urine, hair, saliva, or blood samples. It can be done randomly or after an accident or incident in the workplace.
Knowing the fundamentals is crucial if you have to submit to a drug test. It describes the activities throughout the procedure and how long it takes to obtain the results.
How do Drug Tests Work?
Technical analysis of biological samples, such as urine, hair, breath, or saliva, is used in a drug test to ascertain the presence or absence of certain parent substances and their metabolites. It is used by employers screening employees for illegal substances, sports governing bodies and parole/probation officers testing athletes and workplaces, law enforcement agencies evaluating drivers for impairment, and various other reasons.
Drug testing can be done in many locations, including labs, hospitals, and drug treatment centers. A person being tested typically must give a urine sample or have someone else provide it. A medical expert may occasionally do a blood test.
When conducting a blood drug test, a medical expert will use a needle to prick a vein in your arm and collect a small volume of blood into a vial or tube details about drug testing. You can feel a slight discomfort with this method.
When an employer or other entity conducts a drug test, they must follow a chain of custody details about drug testing to ensure that everyone tampers with and validates the sample. When a patient or employee takes a drug test at a lab, the selection is placed in a special secure cup and sealed with tamper-resistant tape before being sent to the lab for screening.
What Happens During a Drug Test?
Drug testing involves taking a sample of blood, urine, or other biological fluid and then analyzing it for the presence of drugs. It’s often done as part of the pre-employment screening process or to test for drugs in the workplace if there is a work accident or injury.
Checking for drug or alcohol usage can also be done as part of legal investigations or in the event of a car accident. It’s also common in professional and college-level sports to screen for performance-enhancing drugs that can give athletes an unfair advantage.
When a drug enters your body, it gets absorbed by your gastrointestinal tract and becomes chemicals called metabolites in your liver or other organs. These metabolites then leave your body through the urine. A drug test looks for these metabolites in the urine sample to detect illegal substances.
There are various types of tests for detecting drugs in the body. Urine samples make up the majority of drug tests in the US, although saliva or hair samples can also be tested for some illicit drugs. Most screens necessitate extra confirmatory testing to ensure the accuracy of the details about drug testing.
Before submitting a sample for a drug test, it’s essential to tell the tester about any medications you’re taking or foods you’re eating that may affect your result. For example, consuming poppy seeds could produce a positive outcome for opiates, and certain over-the-counter cold medicines can cause false-positive results for PCP.
Why do I Need a Drug Test?
A drug test is an important step to take for a variety of reasons. Before beginning work, before taking part in a particular organized sport, or as part of a criminal investigation or legal proceeding, you could be required to submit to a drug test. Drug testing is also used to monitor prescription drugs for misuse or abuse, and it can be a helpful tool in helping people recover from addiction.
Generally, the most common drug tests are urine tests. These can be conducted at home and detect a wide range of illegal substances and some over-the-counter and prescription medications.
Remembering that a single drug test cannot identify usage patterns or the degree of addiction is crucial. It is because your body metabolizes different drugs at various rates and can hide signs of drug abuse.
A blood or hair sample might also be used for a drug test. These tests can be more accurate than a urine sample but are typically more expensive and less portable. Additionally, a positive result on either of these tests can be challenging to dispute due to how they work.
What Happens if I Get a Positive Drug Test?
Failing a drug test can have serious repercussions, and many employers enforce strict rules for testing results. Some states even make passing a drug test a requirement for employment, school athletics, or continued probation.
A positive drug test result means the urinalysis tested for drugs in your system. It can be a sign of abuse or misuse and indicates that you have been taking certain prescription medications. Typically, positive drug test results must be confirmed with additional tests to ensure accuracy.
Confirmatory testing is a more accurate way of testing urine samples than the initial screening. It involves splitting the model into two containers, vial A and vial B. The laboratory will test vial A, and the medical review officer will use a different method to confirm vial B’s positive results.
Some prescription medications can produce false-positive results on a drug test. Likewise, some foods or beverages can have an impact on test results. For example, poppy seeds can lead to a false positive on an opioid screen, and over-the-counter cold medicines can cause a false positive for PCP.
If an employee tests positive during a pre-employment drug test, they can request to have the sample retested, but they must pay for the retesting themselves. If the piece is retested and still shows positive results, an employer can discipline the employee up to and including termination. If workers fail a random drug test, they must undergo a return-to-duty evaluation with the SAP to determine whether they can safely perform their job.
