There are a variety of reasons drug tests are used; pre-employment drug screening, court ordered testing, or even personal reasons. Drug tests have become so affordable that kits can be purchased over-the-counter at many retailers. These are often used by parents to test their children for drug usage. A growing number of schools are also beginning to test students and athletes for drug usage. There is an ongoing debate over the legality of this practice. Drug testing is often used in court cases concerning drivers accused of driving under the influence of drugs. In states that allow recreational marijuana, scientists are developing tests that can show immediate intoxication, in order to prosecute motorist that are accused of driving while intoxicated on marijuana.
There are several ways drugs are tested for in the body, hair, blood, urine and oral drug tests can be analyzed and tested for the presence of drugs. Urine testing is the most common, as it is the fastest, cheapest, and can be conducted on-site with near immediate results. Accuracy of these tests are superb, with most at home urine tests claiming 99.5% accuracy! Blood tests are used for quick metabolizing drugs that can be quickly “flushed” from a person’s urine, or for testing people that are unable to give a urine sample due to injury. Blood tests are regarded as the most accurate drug test with samples being analyzed in a lab with an accuracy of 99.95%. Hair analysis is regarded as the most expensive of the drug tests. Hair tests are used to show a history of drug use, as drug indicators grow with the hair, giving a timeline of usage. These test results take the longest, as samples need to be sent to a lab to be analyzed and there are a limited numbers of labs that provide this service.
The Trend
Drug testing has become more and more popular for companies to take on for their newly hired employees. There has been a significantly higher trend of drug use going on in this country and it has become important for employers to know that the new employees that they are hiring will be able to complete their jobs to perfection and as safe as possible. With the rising cost of worker’s compensation insurance, it is imperative that all employees are drug free and can work safely in an environment that can be a hazard. Prescription drug abuse has increased substantially even over cocaine, heroin and Ecstasy use combined and that is something that employers must be aware of and keep a very close watch on when they are hiring a new employee.
Employers not only need to worry about their newly hired employees being drug free but also they’re current staff, even long term employees. Employers must also think about the job being done. People who are on drugs can be dangerous to their fellow employees, consumers, as well as themselves. This is why it is becoming more important to drug test employees. Recently there have been some people who have started to protest that their rights are being revoked by having mandatory drug tests but that has not stopped the trend from continuing on to what it is today. Random drug tests especially seem to be increasing in popularity due to the fact that employers seem to think that it will deter their workers from doing drugs altogether if they know there is always the chance that they may be caught. One thing is for sure though, as long as drugs are as prevalent in our society as they have become then you can guarantee that the trend for drug testing employees will still continue to rise and gain popularity.
