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Four types of drug tests

The phrase "drug test" could be used in two situations. One is when a drug company formulates a new medicine; the pharmaceutical company is required to perform different tests to determine that the medicine is safe to use and effective as claimed.

The second type of "drug test" is to determine if there are any illegal or controlled substances, or alcohol or nicotine in somebody’s body system. Regarding legal substances, for example insurance companies test insurants for alcohol or nicotine for the purpose of determining health risk and insurance premiums. The presence of alcohol during a traffic stop, after an automobile or industrial accident, in some other cases is detected by an alcohol test administered by law enforcement officer and lab.

It is well known that alcohol and drugs contribute to poor job performance, higher accidents rate, and discipline problems law enforcement departments, employers and various governmental agencies have gotten on the drug testing train. No discussion or distinction as to what level of drugs or alcohol in ones body systems means that a person should be refused a job, fired or, worse yet, slapped in jail.

These days, four types of tests assist to determine if a person takes drugs:

Saliva

Once widely used for the illegal drugs testing, its use is declining; time span during which alcohol and drugs can be detected by saliva tests is relatively low, three hours to four days max.

Urine

For a long time urinalysis has been a tool of medical labs to detect various body diseases and malfunctions. More recently, it is being used to detect if a patient suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Now it is widely spread for the testing of alcohol and drugs; this method let to detect specific substances from several days to weeks after consumption, depending upon the type, frequency, and amount.

Blood

As part of your health exam and prior to life insurance policy insurance companies usually persist on blood testing. Blood tests are also popular among employers as a pre-hiring screen. After an accident or arrest law enforcement agencies use blood test to determine the level of intoxication.

Hair

This is the most accurate type of drug testing. It helps to detect toxic substances presence for weeks and months after use, depending on type of drug, amount and usage length.

Fasting as Body detoxification

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