Many people are concerned about drug use today. There are different reasons for this concern. Some people work for companies that conduct random drug and alcohol tests for safety reasons according to company policy. Parents may be concerned about the influence of drugs and alcohol on their children. Family members might need to monitor a loved one to help them maintain a drug and alcohol free lifestyle.

A home drug test is a safe and reassuring method to accomplish any of these goals. It should be noted that while a number of drugs can be detected by these tests, there is only one way to insure results that will satisfy the requirements that most employers have in their company policies. A CLIA certified laboratory has the equipment that can conduct these types of tests under the strict guidelines mandated by law.

However, if a person is interested in testing themselves or a loved one as a preliminary check before a random drug test or as a way to monitor someone’s activities, then a home drug test will be of great value. Although the results will not necessarily pass the stringent standards set by law, they will indicate the presence of a variety of substances that may be of concern.

The methods of testing at home that are considered to provide instant results are the saliva test and the urinalysis tests. These two tests provide results within a few minutes and can be conducted in the privacy of the home. The hair follicle test, which is the most extensive in its procedure, requires a sample to be sent to a CLIA certified laboratory.

The home drug test using saliva as the test specimen, simply requires a saliva sample to be placed on a collection spoon that will indicate the level of drugs present in the body. This method will produce results in five minutes and will indicate the presence of four different drugs used in the past 24 hours.

The urine home drug test comes in two types of kits. One kit provides a sample collection container and a separate test cassette which is placed directly into a cup containing the urine. The other type of urine test provides a self-contained cup that integrates the test into it – No dipping, no mess. This type also has a temperature sensor that indicates whether or not the sample is actually at body temperature.

The urinalysis kits also produce results within five minutes, and both can test for the presence of up to ten different drugs that have been used in the last 72 to 84 hours. Both the saliva home drug test and the urinalysis tests are non-intrusive.

The hair follicle test, because of the extensive testing done, requires a sample to be sent to a laboratory. This home drug test will indicate the presence of many different drugs and can detect their use going back to three months in the past. The results can only be accessed by the person sending in the sample, so it is a safe and secure method of testing.

There are myths surrounding every type of drug and alcohol testing available. Aside from the alcohol hair testing or drug follicle hair testing, urine and breathalyzer tests abound with ways people think they can fool the results.  Let’s see if you’ve heard of any of these myths.

Sucking on Pennies lowers your blood alcohol level

False.  Eating or ******* on nickels, mints, garlic, peanuts, curry powder or vitamin C tablets won’t do the trick either.  It seems this myth is one that many people talk about but never have personally tried. Do you know someone to have tried this and said from personal experience that is hasn’t worked? There is no scientific basis for this claim and no chemical reaction takes place to change BAC results when you **** on a penny,

Alcohol on the breath is a reliable sign of alcohol consumption

False. If you were at a party and consumed a non-alcoholic beer your breath would actually smell the same as your friend’s who drank an alcoholic beer. Further, you could be considered intoxicated even if you have been drinking alcohol free drinks. The reason for this is because the body produces its own supply of alcohol naturalyl on a daily basis. We all have it in our bodies naturally and some people simply produce enough to become intoxicated.

Poppy-seed muffins can alter drug testing results

Well, this is actually true. However, while the opiates from a poppy seed muffin may show up just a few hours later in a urine analysis, hair analysis can distinguish between opiate use and regular poppy seed ingestion. Plus, the federal detection limits have been raised and are beyond the range of a muffin or two. You’d have to consume a lot more than two muffins a day for this to seriously alter any drug tests.

You can stop using drugs a few days before the test and still pass   

There are many discrepancies out there over how many days or weeks it would take to fully get a drug out of the system. Chances are if you drink a lot of water in the hopes of getting drugs out of your system your test will come back diluted and you’ll need to take it again. It’s just not worth it! Plus, if you are involved in a random drug pool you will not know when your name will be pulled out of the hat for your next drug test. That’s the point. Instead of taking the risk, just stay off drugs. It’s a safe and easy way to pass the test.

There are many more myths, rumors and stories surrounding how to pass drug and alcohol tests. However, researchers and scientists are developing tests that are becoming more and more sophisticated thus eliminating error and the ability of human intervention in the results. Most of these myths or rumors we’ve heard but probably none of us have tested them to see if they are true – well, I’m sure myth busters has checked out a few of these, but none of my friends have. Before staking anything on a rumor look into the facts and scientific evidence surrounding it to determine where the truth really lies. Drug and alcohol testing are a common practice in many workplaces – be ready to pass your next test.