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Hair Drug Test

All about the Hair Drug Test Process and when Hair Drug Testing is Suitable.

It is becoming increasingly common for employers and the courts to ask for a Hair Drug Test. Testing for illegal substances in hair gives you a greater time frame of detection than urine, blood and saliva. In fact, you can often detect drugs in hair for several months – if not years, if the hair is long enough. The most common request we have for hair testing is a 3 month or 90 day history of drug use or abstinence, requiring a 3 cm (1 ¼ inches) length of hair sample. It is possible to test less than one centimetre up to any length of hair sample available, however we have to section longer hair samples into maximum 3 cm sections, to maintain the sensitivity of the hair test. As a result, the profile of drug use can range from approximately 7 or 8 days history up to in excess of 2 years (if the person’s hair exceeds 24cm in length).

How much hair is required to carry out a hair test?

About 50 strands of hair are necessary – obtained from the crown of the head, which is about the width of a thin pencil, or perhaps the tip of a shoe lace. There are typically in excess of 100,000 strands of hair on the head of the average person, so this should not make any cosmetic difference, unless the individual’s hair is very short.

Hair Drug Test benefits:

• Hair Drug Tests detect drug use over months, not days.
  
• Collecting a sample for a Hair Drug Test is very simple and non-invasive.
  
• Monitoring abstinence is possible over a length of time.
  
• Hair testing results stand up in court.
  

Are there disadvantages to carrying out a Hair Drug Test?

The two main disadvantages to hair testing are cost, and the time frame necessary to get results. It takes several days to digest the hair sample to a stage where it can be analysed, so we have to quote up to 10 working days on any hair analysis. In terms of cost, we charge £65 plus VAT for the sample preparation (which takes about 3 days) and then £45 plus VAT per drug per section. There are a choice of about a dozen drug classes, but 1 or 2 main ones are common.

So why choose Drug-Aware for your Hair Drug Test requirements?

At Drug-Aware, we pride ourselves on providing a total solution when it comes to organising a Hair Drug Test. We offer technical support in relation to the test, and are happy to explain everything (in complete confidence) to give you a full understanding of the process. The certificate of analysis we provide will stand up in court as long as our sample collection guidelines have been followed correctly. Contact us for details.

If you wish to proceed, we require credit or debit card details for payment (or a cheque) and the donor’s name and date of birth. Contact us to provide the information by telephone. We then issue a hair test collection pack and arrange a suitable method of hair sample collection. This may be the donor’s GP, solicitor or one of our trained collectors. The test then takes up to 10 working days – although a week is more common.

If you would prefer to use urine drug testing or saliva drug tests instead, visit our drug test kits page or our home drug tests FAQ page.  Alternatively, you may be interested in drug awareness training or even alcohol testing?

Tags: Drug testing, hair drug test, hair drug testing, hair drug tests

Drug Testing in the Workplace

To follow is an interesting Radio interview on drug testing in the workplace. Christopher Evans, our Technical Director was interviewed by BBC Radio Derby on the ethics of drug testing, how it can be done and the clear relationship between workplace accidents and drugs and alcohol.

Workplace drug testing is often misunderstood – some people are concerned that it will be used inappropriately by employers, but this interview clearly puts testing into context. Who is tested, why and when, etc.

Listen to learn more, then feel free to comment below. We would love to hear your opinions on whether drug testing in the workplace is a good idea.

Tags: Drug Testing In the Workplace, Radio Interviews, Workplace Drug Testing

Saliva Drug Test – Oral Fluid Drug Testing

Saliva Drug Test Kits or Oral Fluid Drug Testing Kits are a new generation of drug testing kits designed to simplify the sample collection process. They eliminate any requirement for same-sex collectors when a drugs test is undertaken and allow the sample collection process to be fully observed. Non invasive drug testing has taken a while to get here, but the oral drug tests we provide are truly excellent. They are a one-step device which gives saliva drug test results in just 5 minutes for the six most commonly abused drugs.

Saliva Drug Testing Detection Times

Oral drug testing will never replace urine drug testing or hair drug tests because each type of test gives you different information. Hair testing detects drug use over a period of months, urine testing detects drug use for a period of days and saliva drug tests measure a drug history in hours. For monitoring abstinence, urine drug testing is still the most reliable method of testing, but sometimes oral fluid drug testing can provide an excellent backup – especially if toilet facilities are unavailable.

What drugs will the Oratect 3 Saliva Drug Test Detect?

This device is designed to detect Amphetamines, Benzodiazepines, Cannabis / Marijuana (THC), Cocaine, Methamphetamines (including Ecstasy / MDMA) and Opiates (including Heroin).

How to use the Oratect III Saliva Drug Test

When you remove the Oratect III saliva test from its sealed foil pouch, you will see that there are two blue lines visible in the results windows. These are designed to indicate that sufficient sample has been collected. (As saliva / oral fluid travels through the device, the blue lines will migrate with it – showing that the test has been completed successfully.)

We provide consent forms with all of our tests. Contact us for more details. To collect a saliva / oral fluid sample, simply remove the blue cap from the device and ask the patient to open their mouth. Swab the inside of their cheek in a circular motion approximately 15 times. Swab the inside of their other cheek in the same manner. Swab the top of their tongue approximately 15 times, then repeat under their tongue. This process stimulates the production of saliva. Ask the patient to hold the saliva drug test device under their tongue, where the exposed pad will absorb the oral fluid which will have gathered under their tongue.

After around 30 seconds, you will see the blue lines starting to migrate up the results window, being carried by the saliva / oral fluid. At this point, you may ask the patient to remove the device and replace the blue cap.

How To Read Saliva Drug Test Results

Reading the test results is a simple process. The test results are displayed on two test strips. Each strip will show a control line (marked C) upon completion – to show that the test worked and was not adulterated in any way. The drug test results appear as a series of coloured lines. Each line represents a different drug. If a visible line is present for each corresponding drug, the test is negative. If a line is missing after 5 minutes, then that corresponding drug is considered to be positive. Therefore, a fully negative test will display 8 coloured lines – 2 control lines and 6 test lines.

For businesses or health care professionals, please contact us for further information and a quotation. Private individuals can buy online from our dedicated home drug tests web site.

Tags: Drug Test Kits, Drug testing, Oral Fluid Drug Testing, Saliva Drug Test, Saliva Drug Testing kit

Drug Misuse – the Hazard of Dirty Needles

A public hazard facing many councils across the UK is the discarding of dirty needles, syringes and other drug-related litter (DRL) in public places such as public toilets, car parks, bus stations, residential streets, playparks, footpaths and churchyards and beaches.  In an alleyway behind one street dubbed ‘Crack Alley’ in Derbyshire (UK), over the course of one weekend in 2006 an alleged 1100 needles were recovered during a clean-up operation.  On an average weekend, between 200 and 300 used needles were reportedly routinely cleared up from this location.

Risks from Needles

Such syringes are commonly referred to as “sharps” which is the collective name for hyperdermic needles, syringes, razors and other objects that have the potential to puncture someone and infect them.  Blood borne diseases which may be passed include HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

The fear the general public has regarding discarded needles may be compounded by a lack of basic knowledge about illegal drugs and further reinforced by urban myths or hoax emails citing untrue and far-fetched stories of an unfortunate person sitting on an infected needle purposefully placed point upwards on a cinema seat, or being punctured by an infected needle left in the returned change slot of a pay phone. The fear of what many people know very little about can be partly dispelled with a basic knowledge – in this case about drugs, drug users and their habits, and what to do in the case of finding a needle or being injured by one.

What should you do if you find a dirty needle?

What should you do if you find a dirty needle?  In general, advice is NOT TO TOUCH a discarded needle or syringe and if you are a child, report your find to an adult such as your teacher, a police officer or your parents as soon as possible.  If sharps are found on council owned property, they have a duty to have them removed and will often have a sharps removal kit which includes a proper sharps disposal bin and staff will be trained to handle this type of waste removal safely.

If there is an immediate danger such as children playing and the syringe must be removed at once, do not hide it, kick it down a drain, flush it down a toilet, throw it in a dustbin or into a fireplace.  Never touch the sharp with your bare hands.  If possible, put on some heavy duty gloves and pick up the item using tongs at arms length (never scissors), or sweep up with a dustpan and brush, sweeping away from the body.

Syringes should be picked up by the middle of the barrel and tipped needle end first into a plastic or metal container, preferably with a lid.  If necessary, use a hard plastic bottle or a drinks can.  Wash hands thoroughly afterwards.

Needlestick Injuries

Whilst we aren’t able to give medical advice, the common information on the internet states: If a puncture wound has occurred, try not to panic.  Encourage bleeding by squeezing gently for a couple of minutes, do not suck the wound, wash thoroughly with soap and water for five minutes and attend the accident and emergency ward at your nearest hospital as soon as possible so that further advice and immunisation can be offered.

Needle Exchange

Needle and Syringe Exchange programmes are a positive step towards reducing discarded used needles and helping injecting drug users to handle their addiction responsibly and without causing danger to other members of the public.  Needle Exchanges aim to provide new and unused needles to injecting drug users to prevent them from sharing dirty ones and also to offer proper disposal bins for used needles.  This service is provided in a number of easily accessible places including high street chemists such as Boots and even selected pharmacies within large supermarkets like Sainsburys.

If you have any questions about addiction, visit our Tackling Drug Addiction for Friends and Families page or our home drug test FAQ page.  Alternatively, visit our workplace drug testing page for more information for employers.  We offer drug awareness training and drugs and alcohol policy development services.

Tags: Drug Information, Drug Misuse, Hazards of Dirty Needles, Illegal Drugs, Needle Exchange, Needlestick Injury

LSD – Drug Information, Facts and Awareness

What is LSD?

LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) is known by street names such as as acid, blotter, lucy, smilies, paper mushrooms, stars, tabs, M, window panes, sunshine or trips.  It is a semi-synthetic psychedelic drug which originates from ergot, a type of grain fungus that typically grows on rye and is the most widely known of the hallucinogenic drugs.  It is an extremely potent and an illegal Class A drug in the UK, carrying a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment and an unlimited fine or both for possession, and up to life imprisonment and an unlimited fine or both for supply or dealing, even if this is without charge and between friends.

How is LSD Taken? and what does LSD look like?

LSD is usually taken orally.  This drug may come in the form of a liquid solution which is odourless, colourless and slightly bitter to the taste, and is sold in small vials. It was formerly distributed largely in pill form (frequently called microdots) and small squares of gelatine known as window panes, but the most common form of LSD is now blotting paper which comprises a sheet of blotting paper impregnated with the liquid drug solution, dried, and perforated like a sheet of stamps into small squares measuring a quarter of an inch square called ‘tabs’ or ‘hits’ which are currently sold individually at a street cost in the UK of approximately £1 to £5.  The ‘tabs’ of paper are then swallowed or placed on the tongue to absorb the drug.

These sheets of squares often bear a psychedelic print or ‘blotter art’ with various illustrations on them such as strawberries, cartoons, aliens, geometric patterns, angels, Alice in Wonderland, depictions of the Swiss chemist Dr Albert Hofmann (who first created LSD in 1938) – and even Elvis Presley.  The design is sometimes used to denote the manufacturer, batch or strength of the drug.  It is estimated that since the mid 1970’s over 350 different prints have been produced.

LSD and the Government

LSD is widely known as a powerful hallucinogenic drug and was used internationally in an experimental capacity in the 1950’s and 1960’s by Governments to explore the possibilities of mind control, interrogation and social engineering.  Military studies were even carried out to evaluate LSD as a weapon.

The Effects of LSD

Effects of taking the drug are usually experienced between 30 minutes to an hour after taking LSD and can last for up to 12 hours.  Outward physical symptoms can be minimal, but may include dilation of the pupils, an increase in body temperature and blood pressure, sweating, sleeplessness, tremors and a dry mouth.

More dramatically, the psycho-emotional effects include visual hallucinations, delusions, an altered sense of time and space, a ‘crossover’ of the senses including sound and vision (called synesthesia) so that a user may experience hearing colours or seeing sounds, seeing straight lines as curved, static objects as moving, or ordinary objects such as faces or flowers ‘morphing’ or ‘melting’ into something entirely different and not always necessarily pleasant.  Heightened religious and spiritual experiences may be encountered and a sense that a greater ‘truth’ about life or oneself has been discovered.

A bad ‘trip’ can result in total panic or severe depression, fear of death, fear of insanity and a feeling of being trapped in a very bad dream with no control.  Rather than flowers or pretty colours, one may see demons, monsters or believe that friends can not be trusted or are thinking badly of them.  Whether a trip is bad or good is largely dependant on the expectations, the mood and environment of the user when they take the drug.  Generally speaking, LSD will amplify the current mood from contented to euphoric but potentially also from mild depression to terror.

Drug Information: The Dangers of LSD

More disturbingly, research suggests that underlying mental disorders hitherto not exposed may be triggered in an otherwise mentally healthy person causing lasting psychological ill effects.  More frequently, flashbacks of a trip are reported by users which can occur days, weeks or even years after the drug experience.  Many drug users report that just one tab can produce a single experience that changes their mind-set forever (whether good or bad), consolidating the general opinion that LSD is indeed a mind-altering drug even in the long term.

So – do people die from taking LSD?  The answer, as with most if not all illegal drugs is yes.  However, this is not usually a result of an overdose.  As a result of its large index of toxicity, a huge concentration of LSD is required before death results by overdose.  The US Drug Enforcement Administration reports that tabs seized contain on average of 20mcg – 80mcg LSD each which is a relatively low potency bearing in mind that a lethal dose of LSD has been estimated to be 14,000 mcg.  In the case of a massive overdose, coma, bleeding disorders and respiratory arrest may occur.  It should also be noted that pregnant women should never ever take LSD as it causes uterine contractions which could result in premature delivery and loss of their baby.

The most common danger lies in what is known as behavioural toxicity – uncharacteristic or abnormal behaviours brought about by drug use.  These may be perceived as negative, such as suicidal tendencies, or positive, such as feeling superhuman – but both can be equally as dangerous and lead users to behave in a dangerous, irrational and sometimes fatal manner.

Is LSD Addictive?

LSD is not considered to be physically addictive because although tolerance levels can be built up whereby more of the drug is required to facilitate a trip, the compulsive drug-seeking behaviours of drugs such as cocaine, heroin or alcohol are not brought about by use.

Drug Testing – Testing for LSD

Whilst many other illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine and cannabis / marijuana can be detected at home using a home drug test, LSD is not detectable in this way as the concentrations of the drug are too low to be detected by a visually read diagnostic test kit and a laboratory test is required to screen for LSD abuse.

For more information on home drug testing kits, please visit our home drug test FAQ page.  Alternatively, for information on drug testing in the workplace, visit our workplace drug testing page.

Tags: Acid, Drug Abuse, Drug Awareness, Drug Information, Illegal Drugs, LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide