Employer Drug Testing

Anything that can be abused... will be abused.

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The following information is provided not for the purpose of helping someone avoid testing dirty. It is provided to illustrate that if employers used the more expensive and more accurate drug screening tests AND THE DRUG TAKING POPULATION KNEW THIS

... there would be less abuse, and more people testing clean.

The current drug screening situation as it pertains to employment is a farce.
The people that should get caught don't get caught and a tiny fraction of people who are actually clean, get false positives.

If an insurance company were running the employment show, every body would take the better tests (the hair test, not the urine test)

Employer attitudes towards drug testing are similar to the apathetic attitude some employers have towards employee theft, or pilferage. It's cheaper to absorb it and pass it on to the consumer than it is to go through the pain in the ass of actually hiring people who don't steal.

Shoplifting is in this category too. It is cheaper to let them get away with it, than it is to hire people to stop it... the shoplifters know this
...the dis honest employee population knows this
... and the drug taking population knows all of this.

The public is, for the most part, unaware.

In some commercial business markets, so much of the population is drug addicted that many employers simply look the other way. The attitude is such that the employer seemingly gives up. If they had to hire drug free, they wouldn't get anyone, who really wants to work the night shift at a pizza place or drug store. I base this concept on the West Baltimore neighborhood I lived in and got high in from 2000 to 2005.

I actually remember reading a Baltimore newspaper article that alleged that 2/3 of a certain Baltimore neighborhood was addicted to heroin- sadly I wasn't a journalist at the time so I failed to note which newspaper said it nor can I vouch for the accuracy of the article nor can I cite references other than the fact that I stayed high for 2 years and ran in those crowds, meaning the allegations of the article were similar to what I saw with my own eyes.


DEFINITION: A False Positive is a drug free sample falsely being reported as showing positive for drugs.

Cocaine False Positives

Other Names You Might Know

Coke
Crack
Flake
Rocks
Snow


Things That Can Cause False Positives For Cocaine

Amoxicillin

Kidney Infection

Liver Disease

Tonic Water

Kidney Disease

Diabetes

A false positive drug test can occur for a number of reasons including: improper laboratory procedure, mixing up samples, incorrect paperwork and passive inhalation. But the most common cause of drug testing false positives are cross reactants. A cross reactant is a substance which because of its similar chemical structure to a drug or its metabolite can cause a false positive result.

Drug Test Interaction With Medicines And Foods

Be aware that certain foods and over-the-counter medications can cause you to test "positive" for various kinds of drugs. Some simple examples are:

Poppy seeds, for example, can show up on a drug test as morphine.

Cold remedies that contain codeine can also cause a positive result for morphine

Valium reportedly can produce erroneous indications of PCP (Phencyclidine), and other cold remedies can apparently produce false positive drug screen of methamphetamine usage

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The widespread availability of hemp-containing products, including everything from hemp-seed oil nutritional supplements to hemp-seed candy, cookies, cheese, bread, cooking oil, and general seasoning, means that ingesting ANY of these products could potentially cause a false positive result on a test for marijuana.

Hair and urine testing is highly susceptable to false positive drug testing - to the point that some experts call such testing "junk science". People with dark skin are particularily susceptable to false drug testing results when exposure to second hand marijuana or cocaine smoke is absorbed into their hair.

More than 250 over the counter or prescription drugs can cause you to test positive on a drug test.

Pain relievers such as Advil, Nuprin, Motrin

Menstrual cramp medications like Midol and Trendar

Ibuprofen is known to cause positive samples for Marijuana

Anti inflammatories such as Naproxyn

Dristan Nasal Spray, Neosynephren, Vicks Nasal Spray, Sudafed

Over the counter appetite suppressants which contain propanolamine

Common nasal decongestants can cause a positive reading for Amphetamines

Medications containing chloropromazine and fluspirilene may yield a positive when tested for amphetamines

Vicks Formula 44M containing Dextromethorphan, and Primatene-M containing perylamine as well as the pain reliever Demerol, and prescription anti-depressant Elavil test positive for opiates up to three days

Quinine water can also cause a positive reading for opiates

Poppy Seeds such as the ones on a bagel from your favorite deli, represent a potentially serious source of falsely positive results in testing opiate abuse

Nyquil Nighttime Cold Medicine will test positive for Methadone up to two days

Amoxicillin has caused positives for cocaine

Diazepam tests positive for PCP

A small fraction of the population excrete large amounts of endogenons lysozyme or malate dehydrogenase in their urine which can produce a positive drug test.
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Africans and certain Orientals might test positive for marijuana due to the pigment melanin in their skin which shows up in a dark person's urine sample.
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Second hand marijuana or cocaine that you might inhale may give your test a positive result for several days.

PLEASE READ THIS DISCLAIMER: Let us first say that not all drug tests are sensitive to all of the following and just ingesting one or more of these ingredients will not guarantee a drug test false positive test. Also just by saying you have ingested one or more of these ingredients will not automatically dismiss a false positive drug test. Hair and urine testing is highly susceptable to false positive drug testing - to the point that some experts call such testing "junk science". People with dark skin are particularily susceptable to false drug testing results when exposure to second hand marijuana or cocaine smoke is absorbed into their hair.

"TRICKS" THAT DO NOT WORK AND COULD CAUSE ONE TO FAIL

Various techniques have been running around for some time on how to beat a urine drug test. Most of these techniques are known and the tests and testing methods have been adjusted to compensate for their use. Let's look at some of the most common techniques.

SAMPLE SUBSTITUTION or adulteration has become a significant issue due to the prevalence of synthetic and/or drug-free urine and a wide range of adulterants available on the internet. Some are very effective, but are of dubious value because they are easily detectable. As an example, one of the often used methods to test for adulterants is to add some amount of an actual drug to a small portion of the sample and then retest that portion. If a masking agent is present in the urine, the resulting drug test will have a negative result despite the fact that a drug was added. This situation is also usually reported to whomever ordered the test.

DRINKING LOTS OF WATER - Some people might attempt to defeat a urine test by drinking copious amounts of water. However, a sufficiently diluted sample may be rejected due to its clear color. Samples that are too clear may be flagged and tested for specific gravity and/or the presence of creatinine. If the sample fails one or both of these tests, the sample is rejected and the dilution is reported to the entity that ordered the test and could even result in a failure as some testing entities will not allow a retest.

source: http://www.alwaystestclean.com/false_positive_drug_test.htm

In Summary: Hair Testing is the only way to really get a drug free place of employment.

HAIR DRUG TESTING.

THIS IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT BALL GAME. BE CAREFUL OF THIS TEST

History can be obtained from any hair follicle which can be taken from any body location. Use can be detected, at a minimum, for many months and this detection can be stretched to even years depending on where and how the sample was removed. Most often the sample is targeted at the hair follicles that would represent use in the prior 90 days. However, this is not a stead fast rule.

A Hair Drug Test is considered highly accurate at showing any prescription drugs, drugs of abuse or even nicotine from smoking that have been used within a specified detection window.

As hair grows out drugs used are encased in the hair shaft, so the longer the hair, the longer back in an individual's drug history the drug testing laboratory can go. Most hair drug testing laboratories tend to use only the hair within about 2.5 - 4 cm of the scalp and discard the rest. This arbitrarily limits the detection history to about 90 days, depending upon the rate at which your hair grows.

Some people attempt to circumvent the hair drug test through shaving their heads. In the absence of the required amount of hair on the scalp, any body hair can be used as an acceptable substitute. For pre-employment hair testing the inability to obtain a sample may be grounds for not hiring the individual.

There is a growing trend in major companies and law enforcement agencies to utilize hair analysis drug test in account of its efficiency and reputation as the gold standard when considering test accuracy. This technology makes use of radioimmunoassay technology with subsequent confirmation by mass spectrometry. Hair Testing labs are regulated by CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988) or SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and not the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

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These articles are for informational purposes only. Contact a licenced counselor if you're in crisis.