Drug testing has become common at many places. For many jobs, employers require applicants to first go through a drug test. Some employees already in job have to go through the drug test before they are sent to a job that involves critical operations. These tests help improve safety at the workplace. Tests may be performed to check both legal and illegal use of drugs. Patients suffering from some disease have to undergo drug tests. It helps find if their health problem is due to some toxins. Parents, partners and family members use simple home drug tests to detect drug abuse by a family member. It helps detect and prevent use of banned substances.
Drug testing is performed for different reasons. Some of these reasons include:
Workplace Safety
Employers try to find use of illicit drugs and alcohol consumption by the employees. Job applicants may be required to undergo drug tests before they are employed. Existing employees suspected of using drugs may have to undergo drug tests before they are sent to their duty. Employers regularly conduct these tests to ensure there is no drug abuse at the workplace.
Police
If a police officer suspects someone is driving under the influence of alcohol, the suspected driver may be arrested and required to undergo drug tests. Suspects arrested for other crimes and offenses may be required to undergo drug tests.
Sports
There are strict rules in professional sports where physical stamina of players can make the team win or lose the match. It is mandatory for all players and athletes participating in professional matches to undergo drug tests. It helps stop misuse of drugs in sports and athletics fields. The tests are performed to ensure no one benefits unfairly over others by using performance enhancing drugs.
Patients
Doctors prescribe drug testing to find the level of toxins in the body. The tests may be performed to verify other suspected pharmacological issues. Drug tests are carried out to detect not only illegal drugs but also legal ones. Some individuals may be suffering from an allergic reaction from the use of a particular drug. A patient may be suffering effects of toxins even when no drug is being used. The culprit could be certain foods, food ingredients, toxic food containers or drinking water. A drug test can reveal the root cause of the allergic reaction, disease or ailment.
Court Cases
In some court cases like divorce case where both parents claim custody of the child, drug tests may be ordered by the judge. It helps find a parent’s suitability for child care.
Educational Institutions
The school administrators order drug testing to check whether a student has been using illicit drugs.
How Presence of Drugs are Tested?
In a drug test, body fluids or other biological samples are put through testing processes to detect the use of drugs. Blood, urine, saliva, sweat, breath and hair are tested for this purpose. One or many biological samples may be taken for drug tests. In some cases, the suspected person is legally required to submit the required sample.
Limitations of Drug Testing
Drug tests are not perfect. The tests do not reveal:
How long has the suspect been using it?
When was the drug used?
How much of drug has been used? (Some tests indicate low, medium or heavy use but not the exact amount of drug used.)
Only in a few cases like alcohol test, the level of impairment can be detected. The way sample is collected as well as when and how it is collected affect the drug test result. Some individuals use toxin hiding drugs that can make it difficult or even impossible to detect the presence of drugs in the blood, urine, and saliva. Now there are very advanced methods used for drug testing, but there are advantages and limitations of each method.
How Long the Drug Stays in the System?
Each person has different physiology. There are various factors that affect how long the drug stays in the body of a person. It is easier to detect the presence of drugs in regular users. Healthy individuals and people taking toxin suppressants may not test positive easily and quickly. Some individuals take products like Toxin Rid that helps detoxify the body of the toxins.
Effects of Toxins on the Immune System
The body itself produces some types of toxins. Most foods whether natural or processed contain some types of toxins. Naturally, present toxins are very low in potency. Whether a person is affected by a toxin depends on its potency and how much of it goes in the body. Toxins are poisonous substances that harm the body when there is an excess amount of it. Toxins may enter body not only through foods and drinks but also through the environment. A person may be affected by touching, inhaling or consuming toxic substances directly or indirectly. Toxins of some synthetic drugs remain longer in the body because the potency of these toxins is very high. The body can detoxify itself, but when the levels of toxins are very high, its capacity to fight toxicity goes down. There are different ways individuals suffering from toxicity can detoxify the body. Some of these options include using products like Toxin Rid that claim to remove toxins from the body.