Many employers require drug testing before hiring employees. There are many types of tests available for this purpose, including blood and hair tests. However, in recent years urine tests are becoming increasingly popular.
Urine tests are inexpensive to perform and are not invasive, unlike hair and blood tests. Urine drug tests are also used by schools and by parents to test their children. Tests can be done at home, on the job, or in school. Urine tests can be purchased at drug stores or in bulk online. In addition, test results can be obtained in as little as a few minutes.
Drug kits test for a wide variety of drugs, and different kits may be available for different drugs. Many tests are able to detect the presence of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, and heroin. A urine test may even be used to detect the presence of nicotine. This can be useful if a particular workplace has a smoke free policy.
Substances Tested For
A positive test for marijuana means that the test has detected the presence of tetrahydrocannabionol or THC. This chemical is stored in the body after smoking marijuana and it is slowly released into the body and filtered out in the urine. Because it is excreted slowly, the chemical can remain in the body for a long period of time. In most cases, THC is excreted from the body about one to seven days after the drug was taken. This time period can increase in regular users. In some cases, chemicals from the drug have been found in the urine a month after the drug was used.
Cocaine is the second most commonly abused drug in America. About 2 million people use this extremely addictive drug on a regular basis. If a drug test comes back positive for cocaine, it is because the chemical benzoylecgonine has been found. This chemical is metabolized and released in the urine anywhere from one day to five days after cocaine or crack cocaine was used.
Morphine, heroin, opium and codeine are all opiates. These drugs can also be tested for using a urine test kit. These drugs stay in the body for about a week after being used, and are also slowly excreted in the urine.
Amphetamines are processed relatively quickly by the body. Tests will show up positive a few hours after the drug is taken. The drug can remain in the body for up to a week. This can vary depending upon how regularly the drug is used.
If you are taking any prescribed medications including codeine or morphine, you should talk to your employer and provide documentation from your doctor. Sometimes, cold medicines or anti-depressants can even affect your test results, but this is very rare. If you are temporarily on prescription medications, you may want to talk to your employer. Sometimes employers may want to wait to test for drugs until you have finished your prescription. Others will take your medical condition in to account when analyzing the results.
