Urine Drug Screening
There are many instant drug tests on the market today that can be used when a company is doing a urine drug screening. When performing a urine drug screening, you may wonder just how long traces of certain drugs will stay in your system.
This chart shows how long it would take each drug to leave your system:
Drug |
Average Days in System |
Possible Days in System |
Amphetamine |
1-2 |
3 |
Methamphetamine |
1-2 |
3 |
Cocaine |
2-4 |
7-9 |
LSD |
1-3 |
3 |
Opiates |
1-2 |
3 |
Methaqualone(Quaalude®) |
1-5 |
14 |
The chart gives a general overview because many things, such as dosage, frequency of use, and personal metabolism must be taken into account. Fro example, a small dose of an illegal drug will probably be detectable in the system for the average amount of days, while a long-term user may see a detection period in the upper boundary number of days. This may be important information to know if the subject claims that he or she only tried the drug once, to try to talk himself or herself out of a reprimand or dismissal for a positive results drug screening. Age may also be a factor in detection period time. The metabolism slows down as we age, so older adults may find drugs stay in their systems longer.
Remember that if you are in charge of urine drug screening for a company, you should use caution when a positive result is returned. There are many varying factors, such as an out of date test, that could return a false positive. If a positive for a urine drug sampling is found, the result could be a false positive due to something that occurred in the lab or because of another substance the employee ingested before the test was taken. In case a situation like this occurs, you should have a Medial Review Officer on staff. The Medical Review Officer is a trained professional who will review everything to make sure the urine drug screening results are accurate.
Disclaimer: Cliff Schaffer does not personally endorse or support any of the comments made within the writings of this article.
|
 |
Library Archives
Schaffer Library
|
