I Tested Negative on Drug Test but Wanted to Test Me Again
Nosotros field many questions regarding instant drug tests vs. lab-based testing. Beneath, our drug screening experts give our readers the scoop.
What's an instant drug test? What's a lab-based drug test?
An instant drug test is exactly as its proper noun implies—you lot become the results right away, at the indicate where it'south nerveless, normally inside a few minutes. It's what we call an immunoassay screening; its purpose is to detect whatever presence of that category of drugs in the specimen. The result is either negative (it's not present) or non-negative (it is present). An instant drug examination can't officially give a "positive" result.
Other names for instant testing are "signal of intendance testing" (POCT) and rapid tests. An instant drug examination typically uses urine or oral fluid (saliva) for the test specimen. The examination usually screens for some combination of the following: amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, marijuana, methadone, methamphetamine, opiates, oxycodone, PCP, and propoxyphene.
For a lab-based exam, the collected specimen (urine, hair, oral fluid) is sent to a laboratory for more than rigorous testing. As such, it takes longer to get the results (2-three days, on average).
A lab-based test can screen for any drug. Before testing, your organisation would have already adamant what you want the drug console to be. So if y'all needed a custom panel that includes a different drug—say Fentanyl, for example—you'd have already bundled for/indicated that.
What about accuracy?
Lab-based drug tests are more accurate. We similar to say they are more than rigorous, more involved, and more defensible in a court of law, all of which are elements certain organizations must consider, particularly heavily regulated industries, like the DOT.
When nosotros say lab-based testing is "more involved," here's what we mean: The lab will deport an initial screening to make up one's mind if the specimen is clean of any drugs or if it has some blazon of drug metabolite in it. If the reply is yes to the drug metabolite, then the lab runs it through a more than avant-garde process to ostend what the drug is—information technology will specifically identify the chemical makeup and the quantity.
There are cut-offs and thresholds for ensuring that things like passive secondhand inhalation of marijuana doesn't get misconstrued as utilise, for example. Or most people are probably familiar with the infamous "poppy seed situation" that comes up in drug testing: an instant drug examination might choice upward the presence of morphine (which is an opiate) if you swallow poppy seeds. But a lab will take cut-offs. And so in order to be accounted positive, the result has to exist above a sure quantitative threshold where you lot can justifiably prove in courtroom that it'south not secondhand inhalation or information technology's not inadvertent exposure, but it'south actually direct use of some type of chemic.
Another layer of rigor comes with the Medical Review Officer (MRO). The DOT defines an MRO "as a person who is a licensed physician and who is responsible for receiving and reviewing laboratory results generated by an employer's drug testing programme and evaluating medical explanations for certain drug examination results."
Certain industries, like the DOT, require an MRO to review lab results. Just fifty-fifty if an employer isn't legally required to utilise an MRO, it tin can yet choose to enlist an MRO's services for its employee drug-testing program. Again, this helps ensure the integrity of the results and the program itself. It's a smart affair to consider implementing for any job that has a prophylactic sensitive element to it (for example, anyone operating some sort of machinery).
Rapid testing doesn't have all these protocols. Its primary purpose is speed and to simply report either a "negative" or "not-negative" result.
What does the constabulary have to say nigh instant drug testing and lab-based testing?
Certain federally regulated organizations can but behave lab-based drug testing. For organizations that don't fall under federal regulations, country law will play a role. For instance, some states don't let instant testing. Others will permit the utilise of instant testing, but if the test comes dorsum as not-negative, you lot need to send the test to the lab for confirmation.
When it comes to drug testing, every land has its own unique take, which is why it'due south of import to work with a reputable drug-screening vendor that understands and complies with all the various laws.
What should an organization go on in mind as information technology decides between instant drug testing vs. lab-based drug testing?
If a visitor has safe sensitive jobs or needs rigor and the ability to defend itself in a courtroom-type setting, then lab testing is the way to get. But if speed is more important than and so-called "accurateness," instant testing probably makes more than sense. A staffing agency, for instance, is a big user of instant testing, since the goal is to get a quick read and move applicants along quickly.
Yous need to keep costs in mind too. Instant testing can be cheaper. If you're sending people to a collection site for the instant test, it'southward comparable to lab-based testing. But if you're doing instant drug testing on site without a collector, it could exist less expensive.
Ane final important betoken: information technology doesn't necessarily need to be an either-or decision. You might end up using a combination of instant testing and lab-based testing. Again, working with a reputable vendor who takes the fourth dimension to acquire about your business organization and your goals volition go a long way in making sure yous develop a drug-testing plan that meets those goals.
There are many factors to consider when creating your employee drug-testing program or re-calibrating an existing one.
We tin guide you and answer all your questions.
Source: https://www.goodegg.io/blog/instant-drug-testing-vs-lab-based-testing
0 Response to "I Tested Negative on Drug Test but Wanted to Test Me Again"
Post a Comment