In today’s fast-paced world, it is common for people to seek relaxation in the form of illegal and legal drugs. However, having a successful career does not go hand-in-hand with drug intoxication, which is something you already know by now.
It does not matter if you have to pass the drug test as a pre-employment process or during the employment, if you operate within the DOT regulations, you will need to do it. By checking here, you will be able to watch a video that will explain to you the testing processes in depth.
Apart from the urinalysis, which is the most common type, we can differentiate other types as well. The general need for workplace drug testing is something that most employers are implementing.
You have to be aware of various testing methods available on the market so that you can choose the one that will provide you a transparent picture of your employees.
Each one of them comes with particular advantages and disadvantages, which is also something you should know beforehand.
Let us start from the beginning.
- Urinalysis
We have stated above that one of the most popular and widely available testing methods is the urine drug testing. Generally, the drug byproducts or metabolites leave our bodies after a while and enter the urine.
Since urinalysis is the least invasive procedure, it is common for most employers, and it will provide you an ability to detect both current intoxication and past actions.
Another important consideration is that this particular method comes with a wide array of tampering options that you can find online. Generally, the laboratories have implemented security regulations that reduce the chances of cheating the results.
However, you can find numerous products such as fake urine or detox kits that will mask the presence of metabolites. That is the main reason why employers tend to choose other testing methods that are more challenging to tamper with.
- Oral Fluid/Saliva
Even though urinalysis is the most common consideration for most employers and laboratories, saliva screening is gaining momentum as well.
It is becoming more and more popular because it is less invasive than other methods, and you can detect the current intoxication much better than urinalysis.
Generally, it is the best solution if you wish to detect recent drug abuse with an idea to ensure positive and accurate results. According to one study, saliva screening can detect THC consumption for up to ten hours after consumption, depending on numerous factors.
- Blood Testing
Even though it is the most invasive and expensive solution that you can find on the market, it is the most accurate and with low false-positive options. It can easily detect the proper time of consumption, depending on the amount of substance you have in the blood.
It does not detect the metabolites but the active substances, which is why it should be used right after the suspicion, because drugs tend to leave blood fast.
It is still the most common option used by insurance companies and law-enforcement agencies after accidents, and to determine whether a liable individual was intoxicated during a particular situation.
The main problem is its invasiveness, which is why it is not that common among employers and companies.
- Hair Follicle
You probably understand by now that the idea of testing is to detect the drug metabolites that break down in your organism and stay in particular areas for some time. Hair drug tests are accurate and useful for detecting long-term consumers.
When you smoke weed, for instance, the THC will enter your blood, and after a while, metabolites will enter the blood vessels of your scalp, and the hair will filter them. You can think of your hair as a record of what you consumed in the last six months.
However, it cannot measure the current intoxication, because it requires at least seven days passing from consumption for new strains of hair to get outside the scalp so that labs can use them as samples.
The main idea is that you could detect long-term users. For instance, if you consume cannabis a few weeks ago, you can still test positive due to the high level of residues from the substance that will remain in the hair for months after consumption.
As soon as you enter this link: https://harbor-house.org/guide-to-dot-drug-test/, you will learn everything about the DOT drug testing methods.
The problem lies in the idea that this particular test is not detecting whether an employee is currently intoxicated. Still, it represents a historical record of past drug abuse, which could be useful for pre-employment screening.