How To Pass A THC Drug Test
Drug test Fact's
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verified and might not be reliable. It should be checked for
inaccuracies and modified as needed, citing sources.
A drug test is a process using some kind of biological
matter taken from an individual to determine previous drug use.
It's a matter of much controversy; many have argued that it is
an invasion of privacy, and the accuracy and effectiveness of
some tests are also in question. However, if proper steps are
followed, including a GC/MS quantitative laboratory
confirmation test, drug testing technology is highly
reliableContents
1 General information
2 The NIDA 5
3 Detection periods
4 Common types of drug tests
4.1 Urine drug screen
4.2 Hair drug screen
4.3 Saliva drug screen / Oral fluid-based drug screen
4.4 Sweat drug screen
5 Drug testing methodologies
6 Types of testing
6.1 Pre-employment drug testing
6.2 Random drug testing
6.3 Post-incident drug testing
7 See also
8 External links
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General information
Drug tests can be divided into two general groups. The first
group is the kind most people are familiar with. This type of
testing involves the donor giving a sample of some bodily fluid
or hair to an employer, doctor, law enforcement official, or a
medical testing center. This is normally a sample of urine,
blood, hair, or saliva/ oral fluid. After collection from the
donor, the sample is sealed with a tamper-evident seal and sent
to a laboratory for analysis. The primary advantages of this
type of test are accuracy, legal defensibility, and the ability
to customize tests for a particular demographic group. The
disadvantages are typically costs associated with the need for
collection sites (urine, blood), and the delay in receiving
results (up to 4 days.)
The second type of drug test is an on-site (workplace,
school, washroom, or at-home) drug test that does not require a
laboratory. These types of tests provide the advantages of
lower cost and availability of results within minutes.
Furthermore, if on-site tests, such as oral fluid-based or
saliva tests are used, the problem of "beating the tests"
(otherwise known as sample adulteration or substitution) can be
virtually eliminated. On-site tests provide qualitative
results, and when supplemented with laboratory-based
confirmation tests, can be defended in a court of law.
This article will focus primarily on the first type of test,
but will refer to the latter when appropriate.
The NIDA 5
Drug testing in the United States basically began in the
late 1980's with the testing of certain federal employees and
specified DOT regulated occupations. Drug testing guidelines
and processes, in these areas exclusively, are established and
regulated (by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, formerly under the direction of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse or NIDA) require that companies who use
professional drivers, specified safety sensitive transportation
and/or oil and gas related occupations, and certain federal
employers, test them for the presence of certain drugs. These
test classes were established decades ago, and include five
specific drug groups. They do not account for current drug
usage patterns. For example, the tests do not include
"synthetic opiates", such as oxycodone, oxymorphone,
hydrocodone, hydromorphone, etc., compounds that are highly
abused in America:
Cannabinoids (marijuana, hashish)
Cocaine (cocaine, crack, benzoylecognine)
Amphetamines (amphetamines, methamphetamine, speed)
Opiates (heroin, opium, codeine, morphine)
Phencyclidine (PCP)
While SAMHSA/NIDA guidelines only allow labs to report
quantitative results for the "NIDA-5" on their official NIDA
tests, many drug testing labs and on-site tests also offer a
wider or "more appropriate" set of drug screens which are more
reflective of current drug abuse patterns. As noted above,
these tests include synthetic pain killers such as Oxycodone,
Oxymorphone, Hydrocodone, can tell the difference between
methamphetamine and ecstasy, and in the absence of detectable
amounts of methamphetamine in the sample, the lab will either
report the sample as negative or report it as positive for
MDMA. What the lab reports to the client depends upon whether
MDMA was included in the panel as something to be tested
for.
Gamma-hydroxy-butyrate (GHB) was not routinely tested for in
the early 1990s, but due to increasing use, some labs have
added it as an optional test. GHB is rare in pre-employment
screening, but is commonly checked for in suspected cases of
drug overdose, date rape, and post-mortem toxicology tests.
Ketamine (Special K) may or may not be tested for, depending
upon the preferences of the entity paying for the test, though
testing for it is uncommon. In general, the greater the number
of drugs tested for, the higher the price of the test, so many
employers stick to the NIDA 5 for financial reasons.
Other drugs, such as meperidine (Demerol), fentanyl,
propoxyphene, and methadone are not commonly tested for in most
pre-employment situations. These drugs are more likely to be
included in tests for certain demographic groups (such as
healthcare workers, drug rehab patients, etc.)
Hallucinogens other than cannabis and PCP, such as mushrooms
(psilocybin), LSD, and peyote (mescaline) are rarely tested
for.
[edit]
Detection periods
The following chart gives approximate detection periods for
each substance by test type. The ranges depend on amount and
frequency of use, metabolic rate, body mass, age, overall
health, and urine pH. For ease of use, the detection times of
metabolites have been incorporated into each parent drug. For
example, heroin and cocaine can only be detected for a few
hours after use, but their metabolites can be detected for
several days in urine. In this type of situation, we will
report the (longer) detection times of the metabolites.
NOTE 1: Oral fluid or saliva testing results for the most part
mimic that of blood. The only exception is THC. Oral fluid will
likely detect THC from ingestion up to a maximum period of
18-24 hours.
NOTE 2: Urine can not detect current drug use. It takes
approximately 6-8 hrs. post-consumption for drug to be
metabolized and excreted in urine. Similarly, hair requires two
weeks, and sweat, seven days.
SUBSTANCE URINE HAIR BLOOD
Alcohol 24 hours N/A 12 hours
Amphetamines (except meth) 2 to 3 days up to 90
days 12 hours
Methamphetamine 2 to 5 days up to 90 days 24
hours
Barbiturates (except phenobarbital) 2 to 3 days up to
90 days 1 to 2 days
Phenobarbital 7 to 14 days up to 90 days 4 to 7
days
Benzodiazepines 1 to 5 days up to 90 days 6 to
48 hours
Cannabis (single use) 2 to 3 days up to 90
days 24 hours
Cannabis (habitual use) up to 30 days up to 90
days 2 days
Cocaine 1 to 3 days up to 90 days 24 hours
Codeine 2 to 3 days up to 90 days 12 hours
Cotinine (a break-down product of nicotine) 2 to 4
days up to 90 days 2 to 4 days
Morphine 2 to 3 days up to 90 days 6 hours
Heroin 2 to 3 days up to 90 days 6 hours
LSD 2 to 24 hours unknown 0 to 3 hours
PCP 5 to 7 days up to 90 days 24 hours
Drug Testing Facts
Gas chromatography uses a separation technique to divide
the urine
extracts into the component parts. An
inert gas carries the urine
through chromatographic columns, and the
samples are separated by
their boiling temperature and by their
affinity for the column.
Compounds are identified by separation time,
called retention
time. The retention time is unique and
reproducible for each drug
in a given chromotographic column.
The most precise procedure for detection of
banned substances is a
combination of GC and MS. Gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry is
a two-step process, where GC separates the
sample into its
constituent parts, while MS provides the
exact molecular
identification of the compounds.
The GC/MS is typically used to confirm "positive" EMIT test
results. GC/MS
will indicate precisely what chemical is present. This is
necessary
because the EMIT will only indicate whether something similar
to what's
being tested was found. The GC/MS is difficult and more
costly, which is
why the EMIT is given first. (Hewlett Packard produces the
GC/MS equipment,
including computer, for about $50-75k depending on
options.) Abstinence
and substitution are the only ways to defeat the GC/MS
test. GC/MS is very
precise when done right. However, it's still subject to human
error. For
example, if the equipment isn't cleaned well, the previous test
sample
could get mixed with the next sample. According to Dr.
Edward Cone, the
GC/MS is 99 percent accurate; which is bull shit
Enzyme Multiplied
Immunoassay Technique: The EMIT is the cheapest,
easiest to perform, and most common; also the easiest to
fail. It's the
easiest to pass if you're well informed (ie. reading this
text). Most
pre-employment screens will give you the EMIT first; though
some businesses
will surprise you with a GC/MS test up front (discussed
later).
Unfortunately, there is no standard procedure to expect.
(One who has read
this file and is well informed may still fail because of the
random nature
of drug testing labs.) If you don't know which urinalysis
will be
administered, focus on beating the EMIT. If you pass the
EMIT drug test, you're off
the hook. If you fail the EMIT, they'll give you the
confirmation GC/MS
test, which is extremely sensitive. Lewis Maltby,
director of the
Workplace Rights Office, said the EMIT test is wrong 25 to 30
percent of
the time.
<TEST STANDARDS AND ACCURACY>
The accuracy of drug testing is an area where I've decided to
neglect all
statistics. Those who oppose drug testing provide numbers
indicating a
high level of false positives. Those who favor drug
testing provide
numbers indicating high levels of accuracy. The fact is
that accuracy
varies widely from lab to lab. Generally speaking, NIDA
labs are accurate.
Clinton writes:
Despite what you might hear on the net, urinalysis, if done
correctly, is a very accurate scientific
procedure. I know of no
labs that simply report the results of the
initial EMIT screening
without confirming the sample on
GC/MS. The fact is, labs WANT
you to test negative, because then they only
have to run an EMIT
test on your urine (a few cents). If
you test positive, they must
then confirm the positive result on GC/MS,
which is considerably
more expensive. . . . Incidentally, the
machine which tests the hair
is a relative of the GC/MS, but is FAR more
precise. It can
accurately detect levels of THC in a
solution that are below 1
ng/mL!
Many human errors occur in labs and cause inaccurate
results. Some are
careless or irresponsible errors, and some errors are
accidents. Human
error can ruin the results of ANY test, screening or
confirmation GC/MS.
The only lab you should be concerned with is the one that is
testing you.
Only Federal jobs require NIDA standards. Your typical
private employer
may use any lab she/he chooses, which would very likely be the
least
expensive. Businesses don't always choose NIDA labs that
follow-up a
positive screening test with a confirmation GC/MS.
Drug testing methodologies
Once the sample arrives at the lab for analysis, the
different types of drug tests are tested in very similar ways.
Before testing the sample, the tamper-evident seal is checked
for integrity. If it appears to have been tampered with or was
damaged in transit, the lab rejects the sample and does not
test it.
One of the first steps for all drug tests is to make the
sample testable. Urine and oral fluid can be used "as is" for
some tests, but other tests require the drugs to be extracted
from urine beforehand. Strands of hair, patches, and blood must
be prepared before testing. Hair is washed in order to
eliminate second-hand sources of drugs on the surface of the
hair, then the keratin is broken down using enzymes. Blood
plasma may need to be separated by centrifuge from blood cells
prior to testing. Sweat patches are opened up and the sweat
collection component is soaked in a solvent to dissolve any
drugs present.
Laboratory-based drug testing is done in a two-tiered
fashion using two different types of detection methods. The
first is known as the screening test, and this is applied to
all samples that go through the lab. The second, known as the
confirmation test, is only applied to samples that test
positive during the screening test. Screening tests are usually
done by immunoassay (EMIT for urine and blood, and ELISA for
hair). The screening tests are typically less sensitive and
more prone to false positives and false negatives than the
confirmation test. Once a suspected positive sample is detected
during screening, the sample is flagged and tested using the
confirmation test. Samples that are negative on the screening
test are discarded and reported as negative. The confirmation
test in most labs (and all SAMHSA certified labs) is performed
using mass spectrometry, and is extremely precise but also
fairly expensive to run. False positive samples from the
screening test will be negative on the confirmation test.
Samples testing positive during both screening and confirmation
tests are reported as positive to the entity that ordered the
test. Most labs save positive samples for some period of months
or years in the event of a disputed result or lawsuit.
Types of testing
Pre-employment drug testing
This is by far the most common type of drug test used by
businesses. It has the advantage of being inexpensive, since
only one test per employee needs to be paid for by the company.
Furthermore, since most pre-employment drug testing is
urine-based and subject to sample adulteration or substitution,
the effectiveness of this approach has been questioned by
federal legislators. There are two major groups of people this
type of test will catch. The first is the true drug addict that
is unable to stop taking the drugs, even for a few days, and
will thus fail this test every time. The second type of person
normally caught by this testing regimen is the person who isn't
informed enough, or for some other reason does not stop using
the drug(s) before the test. In this second case, some
employers consider this more of an intelligence test than
anything else, since this second individual is presumably
capable of quitting, yet doesn't do so before applying for the
job.
Random drug testingThis is the most controversial type of
drug testing regimen, however, is also the most effective at
deterring drug use. It is usually used by corporations, drug
rehabilitation centers, prisons, and more recently, schools.
This method may also be used on teens by their parents, or
mandated to be performed on teens at school. The point of a
random drug test is deterrence, as the threat of detection is
much higher vs. other testing methodsThis has the advantages of
catching most drug users sooner or laterand provides the best
overall return on investment.Companies use various ways of
determining who gets tested, ranging from drawing names out of
a hat, to using more defensible methods such as robust random
number generators. The goal of this test is to discourage drug
use among employees, inmates, or students by not telling anyone
who or when they are to be tested in advance. However, critics
claim that random testing introduces a presumption of guilt,
and is a violation of privacy if the user is not actually
intoxicated during working hours. In addition, random testing
is more likely to catch cannabis users, since THC metabolites
have a longer duration in the body than those of more harmful
and addictive drugs.
Post-incident drug testing
This is not a very commonly administered test compared to
the other two, but the financial ramifications of not testing
employees after an accident (or other incident) on the job
makes this test worthwhile for most businesses. The point of
this test isn't necessarily to cause the employee to lose his
or her job, but rather to protect the company from liability in
the event that the individual is under the influence at the
time of the accident. If drugs or alcohol are detected in any
major quantity, the argument can be made in court that the
individual was intoxicated on the job, and for that reason, the
company should not be held liable for injuries sustained by the
employee. This argument, however, can only reasonably be made
if blood or oral fluid / saliva testing is used. Urine, hair,
or sweat based testing can only detect past drug use. Depending
upon the facts of each case, this may help a company avoid
litigation completely or may do nothing to help their case. DUI
testing would also fall into this category. Another time this
type of test may be used is if an employee shows up for work
intoxicated, has alcohol on his or her breath, or appears to be
impaired in some other way. The goal of these tests is to
protect the entity from litigation, so they are only give
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