What is an Over the Counter Drug Test

Different people use over the counter drug test for different purposes, it can be used to check if your teenage daughter or son is being influenced by...


Different people use over the counter drug test for different purposes, it can be used to check if your teenage daughter or son is being influenced by prohibited drugs or it can be as useful to companies who want to make sure their employees and applicants are not consuming illegal substances. To determine whether a person is using prohibited drugs, most people and companies resort to over the counter drug testing kits.

Drug testing can be a very sensitive issue, this is why it is very difficult to choose the right test especially is we are unfamiliar with the methods of detecting drug abuse. One has to learn and be knowledgeable about the capabilities of the over-the-counter drug test and the specific drugs that one wants to identify. Over-the-counter drug tests can be classified into three types. They are the urine test, the saliva swab test and lastly the hair test.

The urine test is a common type of over-the-counter drug test; it relies on trace amount of drugs that the body has failed to process completely and therefore exits through the excretory system. They provide instant results without the need of going to a lab to have the urine analyzed. The disadvantages of this test are, one, it requires a witness to make sure the urine sample is truly yours and it can be very uncomfortable to be in that situation.

Since a saliva swab test is a less invasive method, most people prefer this drug testing kit even though it’s new in the market. This over the counter drug test may immediately determine the drug that has been taken, its better to utilize this method especially if you are suspecting someone of drug use. However, it can be difficult to control because it has limitations in finding out the quantity, and the time and type of drug is being tested for. Over the counter drug test also include the hair test. A hair test is the most accurate test but it will also take a lot of time because the samples have to be analyzed for at least 30 days. A hair test however can detect wide range of illegal substances and how long is the subject been addicted to illegal substances.

Different methods to detect if you are using prohibited drugs and a person who uses them must be capable of confronting the consequences of the results. You can breathe a sigh of relief if the tests are negative, but if it turns out positive prepare for the next steps on facing drug problems.

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