Drug Of Abuse Tests

Different types of drug tests necessitate different collection techniques. Regardless of the type of drug tests a company chooses to use, steps must be taken to prevent the tampering, manipulation, or substitution of samples, and the falsification of results.Urine samples are often conducted in bathroom stalls. Direct supervision could be considered an invasion of privacy, so multiple measures are taken to ensure fair play, including:The use of specific stalls;Putting dye in the toilet water; and/orTurning off the water supply.

Test administrators may also impose special instructions, such as avoiding water intake and urinating for a couple of hours before testing. Employers should always be aware of any federal, state and local laws and regulations which may provide additional guidance on how urine samples are collected.Other drug test types only require small samples which are easier to collect under direct supervision. SAMHSA, the federal agency tasked with leading public health efforts to combat substance abuse, has stringent guidelines to ensure that no specimens can be interfered with after collection:

Official chain of custody documentation details each sample's collection, handling, storage, analysis, and disposal.Samples are split so that a second test can be performed in the event of a positive result.
An initial screen is undertaken. In the case of a positive outcome, the second analysis is performed to eliminate the possibility of a false positive.Using the second part of the split sample, a confirmation assessment is conducted. Only if both tests return the same result can a positive outcome be recorded.A positive result is determined by a minimum baseline presence of a drug, known as the cut-off level. SAMHSA guidelines set cut-off levels relatively high to account for passive exposure and random false positives.No type of drug testing is 100% reliable. Still, false positives are less likely than false negatives—provided strict collection, handling, and analysis procedures are followed.

Suppose the initial and confirmation screenings both come back with a positive result. In that case, a licensed doctor specializing in substance abuse will review the results to ensure the chain of custody was adhered to, the specimen was stored correctly, and the correct chemicals were used for testing. The licensed physician will also contact the individual directly to obtain any additional information around the positive result, after which, the specialist will declare the outcome. Some prescribed medications can trigger positive results. In those cases, if the medication in question is taken at the recommended dosage and under the direction of a licensed physician, the test is declared negative.False negatives are more common than false positives primarily due to the timing of sample collection. Different kinds of drug tests will identify the presence of substances at varying optimum periods (after ingestion). It's therefore possible an employee with a regular drug habit could return a negative test if the sample was collected too early or too late from their last use.

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