Drug Testing Kits

A drug test is a scientific and technical means of analyzing a particular specimen from any human being for the sole purpose of determining the presence or absence of a drug, a substance, or its metabolites. This analysis can be done through getting a sample of any biological substance between hair, blood, sweat, saliva, or urine. As mentioned earlier, its sole purpose is to know whether or not a person is using a particular drug. Why and what for? Well, due to previous and current statistics of drug abuse worldwide, drug testing kits are made available in the open market so that the parents of every household can now have access to monitoring their kids especially the teenagers who are beginning to explore new stuff. Drug testing kits can also be bought by individuals for personal use. This is useful for those who are at constant medication to see if they are getting intoxicated already or if they are using the drug and are anxious to undergo official drug testing, so they monitor themselves first. Another purpose of it is for employees, applicants, and other manpower of businesses that undergo routine drug checks. Passing drug tests is really a must for them or else they'll be facing several issues like suspension, rehab referral, or worse, termination.

The technique of testing drug presence in people started and instantly became known in the mid 1980's. The primary users of such were company applicants for employment. The original medium of drug testing was urine sampling; and the results were gotten within 24 to 48 hours. Such kits were just accessible in clinics and hospitals before. However, as time passed, the next people that used drug testing were athletes who were alleged for using steroids and other drugs that improve performance. Here drug check kits were already starting to be sold in the market therefore gaining access by all.

Drug Tests are very important in the present times because not only do they accurately perform their primary job of drug detection, but they also contribute to holistic health maintenance of people. Emotionally and socially, passing drug tests either improve the self-esteem of those who got negative results or motivate drug users to gradually decrease and stop their use within the allotted time because they had to pass. To a particular person, his or her health is maintained and protected by using it. A pregnant woman, for instance, becomes aware of certain risks once she discovers she is positive in a cocaine drug test; so she may start getting in rehab as soon as possible. A drug test also has a big role in the mental status of a person. Abusive drugs and substances are widely known for being one of the primary causes of mental and psychiatric disorders in the whole world. Some of the most popular mental disorders caused by drug abuse include Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorders, Anxiety disorders, and the like. Drug tests are also important for families in promoting and maintaining healthy lifestyle of their children. With the variety of drug test kits like an oral drug test, the choice according to one's convenience is very easy. Drug testing sets are not just beneficial to individuals and families, but to the entire society as a whole. Passing drug tests can significantly affect the cost of drug abuse illnesses not just in a specific nation but also throughout the world. It will help improve overall health as reflected in health statistics therefore contributes to improving quality of life.

There are virtually about hundreds of addictive drugs and substances that are used across the globe. Basically drug testing kits and some drugs are openly sold in drug stores and hospitals, while the rest of the drugs are traded illegally in the underground market. For instance, a cocaine drug test set can be bought in stores but cocaine itself cannot. Generally, these drugs are sorted out into two main categories: the street drugs and the legal drugs. The following are some of the most common addictive drugs that have specific drug-test kits:

• Nicotine

Nicotine, together with tar, are simply regarded as the 2 harmful chemicals found in cigarettes and tobacco. Nicotine is a stimulant, meaning it makes the user hyper. One cigarette has about 1mg of absorbed nicotine. It has almost the same addictive and dependence-forming effects of heroine and cocaine, which will be discussed later. It alters your cardio-pulmonary functions which is why prolonged use can lead to serious heart problems and lung cancer. Its drug detection time is from 4 to 10 days.

• · Alcohol

Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant. Having drunk at least one ounce of any forms of alcohol be it beer, wine, or liquor can impair one's driving ability. Amongst all addictive drugs and substances, alcohol is the most abused. When drank the usual symptoms of a person are decreased inhibition and coordination, sedation, relaxation, impaired judgment, slowed reflexes, slurred speech, and euphoria. When overused for a long time, say 1 year and above of excessive use, it may lead to cardiac arrest, coma, respiratory depression, or even death. It is detected in drug tests in 6-24 hours though urine, up to 90 days for hair test, and 12-24 hours for blood and oral fluid (saliva) test.

• Marijuana (THC)

Marijuana is also a depressant, meaning using it leads to extreme weakness. It can cause relaxation, mild euphoria, loss of inhibition, red eyes, dry mouth, and paranoid ideation. Usage of this substance has varying detection time based on frequency of use. If one time only, it can be detected in marijuana drug testing from 5 to 8 days; and if used daily, it can stay in your system for about 49 to 63 days.

• Cocaine (Coc)

Cocaine resembles a white powder. Its common effects are alertness, being more talkative, increased muscular strength, hypertension, and diaphoresis (excessive sweating). When a person using this is checked through cocaine drug test, its drug detection time will be from 2 to 5 days.

• Ecstasy (MDMA)

Ecstasy is a potential derivative of amphetamine therefore it has the same effects which include euphoria (sense of being light, feather-like), insomnia, hyperactivity, hyper alertness, weight loss, tachycardia (increased heart rate), hypertension, dilated pupils, and fine tremors. Its drug detection period is 5 to 7 days.

• Methamphetamine (mAMP)

Just like amphetamines, these are stimulants as well. These are usually used by young people in parties and clubs in order to enhance energy levels for dancing. They usually calm down people with ADD (attention deficit disorder), but it does otherwise for normal people. Its drug detection period is 3-5 days.

• Opiates (OPI)

Opiates include codeine, heroine, methadone (MTD), morphine, and opium. They are sometimes used as analgesics or medicines for pain. Its detection is 5-7 days.

•  Phencyclidine (PCP)

Phencyclidine causes euphoria, perceptual distortion, violence, antisocial behavior, and increased salivation. Other names include Angel Dust, Love Boat, etc. Its detection period is 2-8 days.

• Barbiturate (BAR)

Barbiturates are depressant and sometimes used as anesthetic, hypnotic, sedative, and anti-convulsant (anti-excessive tremors). It can be detected in drug tests in 2 days to 4 weeks.

• Bensodiazepine (BZO), and

This is also a depressant that is usually used as anticonvulsant, hypnotic, sedative, and anti-anxiety. It can be detected in 7 - 10 days.

• Tricyclics (TCA).

Lastly, tricyclics are stimulants and anti-depressant; therefore it causes disturbed concentration and confusion. It can be detected in 3-5 days.

Now let us talk about the actual drug test kits. Drug testing sets as I said earlier are now available in almost all drug stores and hospital pharmacies worldwide. However, drug distributing companies designed such devices into many forms that can accommodate and perform drug checks in just about any biological substance such as saliva, urine, and the like. How are these drug test media used? Take a look at the following for brief description and instruction on using them:

Urine drug test kits make use of fresh, mid-stream (urine flow in the middle part)urine for evaluating presence of particular drugs. As you can see in the picture, the result is positive (+) if a red line appears on the C portion (control region). This means that the concentration of drug in the urine is significantly greater than the prescribed cut-off measurement of that specific drug. However, it is negative when a line appears in both C and T (test regions) portions. Up to 3 lines can appear in the T portion. This means that the drug in urine is below the designated cut-off value for that drug. The test result is considered invalid if no line appears in C portion or anywhere. Try using a new device or call your distributor if this happens.

In using multiple drugs in a single specimen, the test setup looks like this:

Following the image, the C and T portions are still there and same reading technique is used. The only difference is the presence of many strips according to drug types, and one wide-mouthed specimen cup for submerging the strips. The number of strips depends on the number of drugs that you want to test on one specimen. However, if you use a single drug test, you'll just have the reading device and a liquid dropper. It works just like a pregnancy test kit.

Oral drug tests are quite different, because they have sponges instead of droppers. The setup looks like this:

After preparing the device, next step is to insert the sponge into your mouth for at least 3 minutes, like the one shown here:

After 3 minutes, place the collector inside the collection chamber and turn it clockwise as shown in the picture, and wait for at least 1 minute. Then, turn it again to the left by 90 degrees, wait for 9 minutes, then turn left by 90 degrees again to remove.

As I said earlier, the result is basically positive when there are lines in C portion and no lines in some part of drug labels. Those drugs that have no red line are the ones that are positive. The result is negative if a red line is in C portion as well as the rest of the labels; and it is invalid if no lines are noted in the C portion.

Hair drug test kits make use of embedded drug molecules inside the hair shaft. This is pretty reliable because our hair is usually fed by the bloodstream, therefore ingestion of drugs can reflect by analyzing its interior. Using this kind of kit does not let you see the results first-hand. This means you will have to send the hair sample to the laboratory and the results will be mailed to you. First, you will have to cute a medium portion of hair, then place it in a paper, fold it in, and send it to the lab. The detailed steps are illustrated below: