What is a Drug Screen?
A drug screen, often referred to as a drug test is the collection and analysis of urine, hair, saliva, or blood to evaluate the sample for the presence of chemicals and metabolites left behind in the body after consumption of a drug(s). It is important to remember that a drug screen (test) is a method used to determine whether a parent drug and any of its metabolites are present in the sample and cannot be used to determine the frequency or intensity of the substance use or to make any inferences between casual substance use or a substance abuse disorder.
When would you need a drug screening?
- Pre-employment: before hiring an applicant.
- During someone’s employment: random or periodic testing
- Reasonable Cause/Suspicion: when drug use is suspected based on signs and symptoms observed in the workplace.
- Post Incident/Accident: after an employee has an accident or incident while working.
A drug screen may be required for several reasons. Workplace screenings is typically the most common reason for drug screenings and employers may require a drug screening for various reasons, including:
What are the types of drug screenings?
Each drug screening type will depend on the sample that is collected.
- Urine drug screen: This is the most common drug screening method utilized. It requires a sample of your urine to be collected and sent to the laboratory for analysis. Urine drug screenings are the most commonly used to detect illicit street drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, THC, opiates, and PCP, this test is known as a 5-panel urine screening. Urine drug screenings may be customized to include several different drug panels and alcohol.
- Hair drug screening: This screening method requires a hair sample taken from the crown of the head at a length of 1.5 inches and can provide information on substance use over time. a hair sample collected from the crown of the head has a detection window of three months( 90 days).
- Oral fluid drug screening: This screening method is commonly used by employers because it detects recent drug use in the previous 24-48 hours (24-36 hours for THC). Employers prefer this type of screening because collections are observed and this collection method makes it very difficult for a donor to adulterate or substitute their specimen.
- Blood drug screening: A blood sample may be used for the detection of drugs or their metabolites. This methodology can be very invasive and costly.
