Why Can’t Hair Drug Tests Be Cheated? Find Out Here…

January 21st, 2010  

Home Health Testing strives to provide the most information about the tests we sell and what they test for.  On our main site we took a look at why hair drug tests can’t be cheated (you can read the full article at the link).  Basically we want everyone to know that our hair drug tests test what’s inside the hair – what you can’t get to with advertised shampoos and conditioners.  Sometimes the problem with drug tests is not that they aren’t accurate (they are) but that they can be faked.  With urine drug testing, people spike samples (or try to anyway) all the time.  It’s silly, but there you go.  Urine tests are certainly worth it for the range of drugs they can test (up to 12 at one time!), their value (the cheapest of all tests), and their decent detection time (a link to our chart).  Saliva drug testing is also a useful tool, because someone can take the test standing in front of you – it doesn’t have the same privacy issues as a urine-based test.

So don’t be daunted by all the “pass a drug test” sites that are out there!  Check out our article on hair follicle testing and learn more!

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Why You Should Alcohol Test Your Employees

January 20th, 2010  

It has been estimated that about 70 percent of substance abusers hold jobs. This includes the 18 million alcohol abusers that have been estimated in the United States. Coming to work under the influence of alcohol can cause various concerns and issues. Among them are risks of an accident, reduced productivity, higher levels of health insurance costs and therefore lesser profits and unsafe conditions for everyone.

An alcohol test can help in finding out those who have been abusing alcohol or have come to work under the influence. It has been seen that alcohol abusers like other substance users are more prone to miss work and are also at a much higher risk of being involved in a job accident. This risk obviously is far greater in jobs that require extremely high levels of concentration.

Workplaces that require physical work like driving or managing large equipment, in other words any work that requires the reflexes to be at their best, can benefit from on-site alcohol testing. Since alcohol consumption causes blurred vision and coordination issues, these tasks become difficult for those under the influence. Transportation companies, construction companies, factories, heavy equipment handling companies and others should definitely include alcohol testing as a regular practice to ensure job safety.

Not only are alcohol tests necessary for the job safety of the employees, they also keep the employers away from complicated law suits that tend to follow incidents. It may not be practical to have a laboratory come in and conduct testing every now and then, but the breath analyzer alcohol test is an extremely convenient and accurate one that can get around this problem and literally be used every day.

Educational institutions are also using the alcohol test to ensure that there are no students that come to the campus under the influence of alcohol. This is a necessary measure that is being taken to ensure that proper discipline is maintained in the premises of the school. Hooliganism and unacceptable behavior can be avoided by using the 0.02 percent breath alcohol test.  As a matter of fact, the University of Minnesota, for example, requires season-ticket holding students guilty of previous alcohol offenses to take an alcohol test before they enter the stadium (see the full article at the blog Alcohol Testing).

Small businesses that cannot afford to hire a laboratory for these alcohol tests on a regular basis can ensure that their workplace is devoid of alcoholics. While those with desk jobs may not be at such a high risk of accidents on the job, the short term effects of alcohol can lead to low productivity and bad judgment. Alcohol induced fatigue, insomnia and lack of judgment and false confidence can cause some really wrong decisions to be made.

The home alcohol test is also something that educational institutions and corporate offices can use to ensure that the employees are clean and not under the influence of alcohol when they report. These alcohol tests are simple and can give results in a matter of seconds.

The 0.02 percent breath analyzer is a great piece of zero-tolerance equipment that can detect alcohol that has been consumed in the past hours. It is also a convenient thing to use to decide whether it is safe to drive or not rather than calculating the number and type of drinks consumed before getting behind the wheel.

Such alcohol tests not only provide a great way to pick out alcohol abuse at the workplace, they are a significant help in deterring teenagers from indulging in alcohol too.

– Anne Hamilton

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3 Reasons Why The Saliva Drug Test Might Take Off This Year

January 19th, 2010   1 Comment

Well 2010 is finally here and a new decade begins.  What does that mean for the drug testing industry?  The drug testing industry is a field that was cited recently as being worth $1.5 billion – what new direction do you think the field will take to better serve employers, parents, and worried relations?

We think the direction is going to be home drug testing, and in particular the saliva drug test – and here are 3 reasons why:

1.  Great usability for any consumer.  A saliva drug test is extremely easy to use.  It does not have the “ew” factor that some may find in urine drug testing and it is really easy to administer.  Cheating the test is difficult, as you can collect the sample with the person.  So when you purchase a home drug test that uses saliva as its sample you can be confident you’re not throwing money away – important to home consumers and small businesses (especially in this economy!) alike.

2.  Ideal detection time.  Again, as a business, especially a business in a recession, you may be wondering if it is worthwhile to bring in a laboratory to drug test your employees.  Why not cut to the chase and just test yourself, using the one drug test that can tell you if somebody is actually high?  Because although there are many aspects of drug abuse that can affect behavior, in many industries the fact that someone is high can be the most urgent and dangerous aspect, and certainly the most important one to test for.  A saliva drug test has the capacity to tell you if someone is on methamphetamine 5-10 minutes after they take it.  The same goes for cocaine.  Marijuana will show up generally an hour after consumption which is still a short enough delay that you can tell if someone is high or if their work has been/will be affected.

3.  Affordability.  Again, no need for a lab – you can buy these and keep them around, and get the results instantly, all for under $15.00 a test (and that is the high price range for the technology).  Since the saliva drug tests have approximately 97% accuracy, they are a great way to ensure that the workplace is safe without breaking the budget.

These are only the top 3 reasons why home drug testing, and particularly saliva drug testing, is going to expand this coming year.  We will be expanding this series throughout the month.  If you want to drug test but haven’t thought you could afford it, or if you want to get rid of your laboratory service but don’t know what to replace it with, take a look at our article and the links on the side!

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The Home Drug Test That Can Catch a College Student’s Drug of Choice

January 11th, 2010  

Ritalin and Adderall are two drugs that have been used extensively in the treatment of disorders like Attention Deficit Disorder also known as ADD. These drugs are an integral part of a treatment program that includes psychological, educational and social measures.

College students can and do temporarily increase concentration levels by taking these analeptics that stimulate the central nervous system during exams or otherwise (regardless of whether they have a prescription for the medication). An estimated 20 percent of college students have turned to this method of staying focused. One of the best ways in which the use of these drugs can be abated is by using a home drug test.

It is hypothesized that teenagers fake ADD or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) to obtain a prescription for the drugs. This allows them access to the drug which is otherwise not sold over the counter. They also can obtain these drugs through a black market trade amongst peers.

Fortunately for parents, Adderall can be tested by a home drug test. A test for amphetamines will cover Adderall, as well as other amphetamines you might be concerned about. If you believe your child is using “uppers” then this is the type of test that will address your concern.

The Adderall drug test allows parents to have much better control over their children with regards to their medication. Children who have been prescribed the drug need to take it at regular intervals as per their doctor. If the child is not taking the drug any longer an amphetamines drug test can establish that, which may also mean the child has been distributing the drug to peers.

The Adderall  drug test is also extremely easy to read. If the home drug test for either prescription drug is positive a line will appear in the “control” region to indicate that the test was successful. There will in the case of a positive result be NO line in the “test” area. A negative home drug test result is obtained when there are two lines – one in the “control” area and one in the “test” area.

A simple urine sample is required for the test and therefore you may have to be careful about the manner in which you collect the sample and the authenticity of the same.

Ascertaining whether your child is dependent on these prescription drugs is important. You do not want your child to become dependent on crutches like drugs and chemicals to succeed in life. In addition to that a Adderall drug test can keep your child from consuming these drugs, which can cause medical problems and in the most tragic cases death.

–  Anne Hamilton

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New Articles Available on the Main Site

January 6th, 2010  

Hi everyone!  Did you know we’ve been very busy at Home Health Testing providing new and clear information on our line of home drug and home health tests?  Yes, it’s true!  Take a look at some of our longer articles, put on the main site due to their size.  If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or contact us!

Business Solutions – The Hair Drug Test

Home Drug Test Instantly With Saliva Tests

Why Home Drug Testing Can Help Solve The Prescription Drug Abuse Problem

Home HIV Test – 5 Good Reasons Why You Should Take One

Home Thyroid Test – 3 Reasons to Take One (also published on ezinearticles as 3 Reasons to Take a Home Thyroid Test)

Nicotine Tests and Insurance Policies

If you don’t see the topic you would like to know more about, let us know!

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3 Easy Ways to Drug Test at Home for Marijuana

January 4th, 2010  

Marijuana is one of the most easily available drugs these days and a marijuana drug test that can be done at home is one of the best and easiest ways that can be used to confirm the presence of drugs in the system. The home drug test specimen that is used can be saliva, urine or hair, depending on the specific test that you have chosen.

Depending on the type of sample that is chosen for testing, the results of the test can be known within minutes or days. In addition to that, different samples can provide accurate drug testing for a specific period of time. This means that a marijuana drug test should be chosen based on the time period that you suspect for consumption. The detection periods for each of the home drug tests are preset. However, it should be noted that these differ based on weight, drug tolerance levels, metabolic rate, gender, age, urine ph and overall health.

Recent consumption can be detected using a home test that analyzes a urine sample or a saliva sample. Since marijuana takes a longer time to make it though the scalp then it does into saliva or urine, the hair drug test is generally used for detection of drugs in a longer detection period.

The details of each test are given below.

– Hair drug test – This home drug test is the most enduring and can be used to check if any drug has been consumed within a window of 90 days. The test that uses a properly collected sample of hair can test other drugs like cocaine, opiates, PCP and amphetamines along with marijuana. In most cases, there is a specified way in which the specimen has to be collected. This specimen is then required to be sent to the laboratory via first class mail or courier services. To maintain confidentiality the results are almost always available online and sometimes by phone.

– Saliva drug test – This marijuana test is a practically instantaneous way of getting results and can allow you to assess whether someone has been taking marijuana (among other drugs) in a matter of minutes. The accuracy is evaluated and estimated to be around 97% making this a very popular test with parents and educational institutions. The only things required for this are a mouth and a gum swab. This test is used when you want to confirm consumption that has just taken place since marijuana appears in the saliva about an hour after consumption and generally disappears 12 hours after consumption or earlier.

– Urine drug test – Another test that can be used to get results almost immediately, this test does not require you to send any sample to a laboratory. The home test kit can help you test up to twelve drugs at the same time, marijuana among them. Marijuana appears in a urine sample about 2 to 5 hours after consumption and is detectable for up to 15 to 30 days if the person is a heavy smoker. People that use marijuana less frequently will have a shorter detection period and it will not stay in their urine for as long a time.

A home drug test that detects marijuana can be an efficient tool for parents, especially when used judiciously to avoid causing harm to the relationship between parent and child. These easy tests can be the first step in a parent-child conversation about drugs, or the first step toward ending a marijuana habit.  If you have any questions about these tests, be sure to contact us.

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