Drawbacks Of A Drug Test Kit
You may purchase a drug test kit for many reasons. Perhaps you believe that your child, teen, or even your spouse has a drug or alcohol problem and want to check to see if your suspicions are true. Perhaps you want to test your own urine to make sure it is clean before you drop a sample for a potential employer, drug and alcohol counselor, or parole officer. But good as it sounds on paper, a drug test kit is not really all it’s cracked up to be. There are some very good reasons for you to think twice or even three times before you bring a drug test kit into your home. This article discusses some of the most common problems with dug test kits.When I knocked on the door and found my patient away from home, I had a pretty good idea of where he’d be. Sure enough, he’d dropped a dirty urine sample for his parole officer and was in police custody. After his ex-wife bailed him out with a few choice words, I asked him why on earth he’d gone through the ruse of denying drug use and giving a urine sample when he knew very well he’d been using cocaine. His response? “That drug test kit I use at home said I was clean.”
False Negatives
The drug test kit that is used in the home is usually not nearly as sophisticated as the drug test used by professionals to screen for drug and alcohol usage. Besides that, many users don’t know how to use the test correctly. Between mechanical failure and user error, the test can miss actual drug use—that is, produce a false negative—anywhere from six to forty percent of the time. If you have a drug test kit that is only accurate forty percent of the time, you’ve basically got a drug test kit that isn’t much more accurate than a coin toss.
If your financial security, your job, or even you freedom rests upon the results of a drug test kit, don’t allow yourself to be lulled into complacency by a test with a high rate of false negatives. The only sure-fire way to pass a drug and alcohol test is to avoid drugs and alcohol. Period.
Don’t Forget About History
A home drug test kit usually tests your urine for the presence of some of the most common drugs including PCP, methamphetamines, opiates, marijuana, etc. Most illegal drugs filter out of your system fairly quickly and are not detected in the urine. The exception is marijuana, which can stay in your urine for anywhere up to a month. Even if you pass your home drug test, however, it doesn’t mean you will pass your work drug test.
Employers, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and corrections officers know very well how long toxins remain in the urine. Therefore, they are more likely to use a hair drug test kit which will reveal your illicit drug use for the past ninety days. By the way, if you’re planning on buying a product to help you beat the test, save your money. No product has been proven to reliably beat a hair follicle drug test kit.
The Drug Test Kit And Teen Users
I randomly asked five of my teenage clients if they knew how to beat a home drug test kit. Four said they did, and three were actually able to tell me methods that would work if done properly. Therefore, if you suspect your teen has a problem with drugs, pulling out a drug testing kit probably isn’t the best answer.
Instead, make an appointment for your teen to see his or her doctor, describe the behaviors or symptoms that have you worried, and let the doctor talk to your teen and perform a series of tests, including blood tests for alcohol and drugs. Based on your doctor’s diagnosis, you can then seek the best form of treatment. You may be surprised to find that drugs and alcohol are not the problems after all. Perhaps your teen has anemia, depression, or another treatable illness.
Many people consider buying a drug testing kit to test either themselves or their loved ones. If you are using a drug testing kit for fun, more power to you. But if you plan to base serious life choices on the results of the kit, think again. Home drug tests are fallible, won’t take a person’s history of drug use into account, and can be easily beaten by anyone in the know.
False Negatives
The drug test kit that is used in the home is usually not nearly as sophisticated as the drug test used by professionals to screen for drug and alcohol usage. Besides that, many users don’t know how to use the test correctly. Between mechanical failure and user error, the test can miss actual drug use—that is, produce a false negative—anywhere from six to forty percent of the time. If you have a drug test kit that is only accurate forty percent of the time, you’ve basically got a drug test kit that isn’t much more accurate than a coin toss.
If your financial security, your job, or even you freedom rests upon the results of a drug test kit, don’t allow yourself to be lulled into complacency by a test with a high rate of false negatives. The only sure-fire way to pass a drug and alcohol test is to avoid drugs and alcohol. Period.
Don’t Forget About History
A home drug test kit usually tests your urine for the presence of some of the most common drugs including PCP, methamphetamines, opiates, marijuana, etc. Most illegal drugs filter out of your system fairly quickly and are not detected in the urine. The exception is marijuana, which can stay in your urine for anywhere up to a month. Even if you pass your home drug test, however, it doesn’t mean you will pass your work drug test.
Employers, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and corrections officers know very well how long toxins remain in the urine. Therefore, they are more likely to use a hair drug test kit which will reveal your illicit drug use for the past ninety days. By the way, if you’re planning on buying a product to help you beat the test, save your money. No product has been proven to reliably beat a hair follicle drug test kit.
The Drug Test Kit And Teen Users
I randomly asked five of my teenage clients if they knew how to beat a home drug test kit. Four said they did, and three were actually able to tell me methods that would work if done properly. Therefore, if you suspect your teen has a problem with drugs, pulling out a drug testing kit probably isn’t the best answer.
Instead, make an appointment for your teen to see his or her doctor, describe the behaviors or symptoms that have you worried, and let the doctor talk to your teen and perform a series of tests, including blood tests for alcohol and drugs. Based on your doctor’s diagnosis, you can then seek the best form of treatment. You may be surprised to find that drugs and alcohol are not the problems after all. Perhaps your teen has anemia, depression, or another treatable illness.
Many people consider buying a drug testing kit to test either themselves or their loved ones. If you are using a drug testing kit for fun, more power to you. But if you plan to base serious life choices on the results of the kit, think again. Home drug tests are fallible, won’t take a person’s history of drug use into account, and can be easily beaten by anyone in the know.
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