Are you concerned whether or not you are going to pass or fail a 13-panel drug test? Perhaps you have a habit that you have managed to keep a secret from your employer, and you are afraid the cat is about to be let out of the bag.
We at Asheville Detox are experts in overcoming addiction. If drugs or alcohol have taken control of your life, why not take this opportunity to let them go?Â
Various Reasons That a Drug Test May Be Given
One of the most common reasons that you may be required to take a drug test is for your employer. Upon hiring, many employers seek to filter out any people that may have issues with drugs.
Employers may also choose upon their discretion to administer random drug testing if they suspect you may be doing drugs. This is to ensure your safety and the safety of those you work with.
A drug test may also be given to those who compete in sports. Professional and college athletes may need to prove that they aren’t using performance-enhancing drugs.
Drug screening may also be required as part of an ongoing legal investigation or court case.
Another possibility is that your doctor needs to monitor you because you are on opioids for pain relief and they want to make sure you are taking the correct amount of your medication.
Urinalysis Drug Testing
The most common drug test used by employers, a urine drug test may be used to screen for multiple substances. It can detect marijuana, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cocaine, opiates, PCP, methadone, alcohol, and nicotine.Â
It is important to note that a urinalysis drug test can pick up on the presence of any drugs that you still have in your system, whether or not you still feel the effects of them or not. There are a few factors that influence whether or not the drug is going to be detectable in your system. These include the drug’s half-life, how hydrated you are, how frequently you used the drug, and the method in which you used it.
Many types of drugs stay in your system for up to four days, while chronic marijuana users should expect to test positive for four weeks or more on a urine drug test. It is wise to tell your test provider ahead of time if you are using any prescription medications or over-the-counter medicines as these may possibly cause a false positive on a urine drug test.
Hair Follicle Drug Testing
A hair follicle drug test is designed to go a little further back into your history to see if you have used various illicit substances, including prescription medication. Using scissors, a small amount of hair is removed from your head. The hair sample is then analyzed to see if you have used any of the following drugs in the past 90 days:
- Ecstasy
- Methamphetamine
- Amphetamine
- Marijuana
- Cocaine
- PCP
- Opioids
Be aware that it doesn’t matter if you wash your hair, color your hair or use styling products. None of these factors will affect the test’s accuracy.
Within 24 hours, a negative result can be determined using an ELISA screening test on your hair sample. This proves that you haven’t used any drugs in the past 90 days.
Should you require additional testing, a positive drug test can be confirmed after 72 hours, using a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry test. This is used to identify which drugs were found in your hair sample. Should your test result be found inconclusive, your test will need to be repeated.
With the hair follicle test, there will be no way to identify exactly when the drug was taken within the 90-day timeframe.
Drug Testing Your Blood
Compared to urine screening, blood plasma screening is the most accurate approach for detecting drugs. It has the ability to locate drugs that have been taken within a few hours of ingestion. Another bonus is that the results are available almost immediately, only a few hours after the test is administered.
Blood tests are also much more difficult to be tampered with, as a healthcare provider will be the one that is drawing your blood. With a urine test, the individual is allowed to collect the sample on their own.
The drawback with blood drug testing is that it has a very short detection window for almost all drugs. It only shows drugs that have been taken between 2 and 12 hours prior.
Saliva Drug Testing
A common alternative to a urine drug test, a saliva drug test is ideal as they are easy to administer. They are also almost nearly impossible to tamper with as the sample is collected while in the presence of the person giving the test. They are often used by police for roadside drug testing if they suspect a driver is operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs.
All that needs to be done is the sample is collected from the inside of the cheek with a cotton swab. Then, the sample is analyzed for traces of drugs in a lab, which usually takes around 24 hours. However, roadside kits show results in only a few minutes.
Saliva drug testing is ideal for identifying substances that are taken soon after ingestion, rather than if they were taken days or weeks beforehand.
About a 13-Panel Drug Test
A type of urinalysis drug test, a 13-panel drug test is a thorough, comprehensive way that an employer can find out if you have taken one or more of a variety of different substances. Here is a list of all of the different drugs it can detect:
- Amphetamines
- Barbiturates
- Benzodiazepines
- Buprenorphine
- Cocaine
- Ecstasy
- Fentanyl
- Marijuana
- Methadone
- Methamphetamine
- Morphine
- Oxycodone
- Tricyclic Antidepressants
Let Go of Your Habit With Asheville DetoxÂ
If you are about to undergo a 13-panel drug test and you suspect that you are going to fail it, what do you plan to do next? Will you lose your job or something else that means a lot to you?Â
No matter what your drug of choice is, when it becomes an obstacle in your life that gets in your way of getting what you want, it is time to release it. We at Asheville Detox are here to help you do just that. Call us today and let us help fix what has been broken.Â