Even though drug testing is vital for some safety-concerned industries, most employers are conducting them with an idea to improve the safety and health of employees.
We have to make an exception of alcohol testing; other methods used for screening are not checking out for the presence of drugs. The main reason for that is that our bodies tend to break down medicines quickly while leaving byproducts inside the urine, hair follicles, and saliva.
Therefore, we have to say that most drug tests are checking out for the presence of drug metabolites. A most popular drug test is urinalysis, and the presence of metabolites could remain from a few days to a few months based on the level of consumption and other personal factors.
You should check out this article so that you can see whether Lowes feature drug testing policy or not. On the other hand, drugs remain in the blood less than urine as well as saliva, while they can be detected in hair for up to three months.
Remember that different companies will test for a wide array of drugs, which is why you should determine the standard package and what you will get with it.
When compared with alcohol testing, these screenings will not tell you whether an individual is under the influence as well as the level of impairment. It will only present the current levels of drug metabolites that you feature in your system.
Similarly, as we have mentioned above, we can consider numerous types of drug tests that are functioning similarly. When it comes to saliva and urine, it requires no preparation, while for blood testing technicians have to separate plasma before they conduct it.
After technicians take specimens, they will put it through a screening test but have in mind that false positives are common as well, which is why they will have to put it through another confirmation test which is more expensive and more precise as well.
As soon as your employer confirms a positive result, you will have to undergo penalties or get into a rehabilitation program that will help you cleanse yourself and continue working afterward.
Reasons for Drug Testing
Pre-Employment – This is one of the most common reasons for conducting a drug test, especially if you have in mind that the employer will screen the job applicants before he employs them. People are most vulnerable since they are not employed, and they do not have employment rights that are covered by appeals and grievance procedures at this moment. According to some job applicants, they have claimed that the employer denied employment because they have been using prescription drugs without an ability to challenge the results. Most companies decide to implement a drug-testing policy that allows them to conduct drug screenings as the part of the hiring process because it is more affordable than to employ someone with drug issues and create a severe liability afterward. The most common test is urinalysis since it is the cheapest, but has in mind that this particular test is also great because you will be able to tamper with it.
Post Incident – This is the moment in which employers can test current employees in the case someone causes a near miss, damage, or injury. Sometimes, they do it mandatory after an accident, while in other instances, when a supervisor suspects that an accident happened due to drug intoxication. This is considered as an attempt to protect the employer against liability charges, especially after a workplace accident. Therefore, they do not have to pay any settlement because the worker was under the influence during an accident.
Random – When it comes to random drug screening, it requires finding several employees at both regular or random intervals and testing them from previous drug consumption. It is the most common choice in the USA, but the problem lies in the idea that users are switching to harder drugs instead of cannabis because these drugs will release from the system much quicker than THC.
Check out this site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydrocannabinol so that you can learn more on THC in general.
Are Drug Tests Effective?
When it comes to drug testing, you should know that they are highly unreliable.
During recent years, the screening process became more accurate, and the sample was conducted by a laboratory and certified personnel that are using the latest technology so that they can reduce the chances of false positive results.
Of course, that does not state that drug testing has reached the point of ultimate accuracy, especially because some supplements and medications could increase the levels of illicit drugs inside your organism. It means that you can fail the test after taking a flu remedy.
You should know about situations in which people were positive for opiates after consumption of poppy seed cakes, so we recommend you to avoid it before the screening.
Even if the test identifies drug consumption, the test is showing only byproducts and residues of drugs. It cannot tell when the person consumed it and whether he was under the influence at the moment of the test.
The main disadvantage that comes with drug screenings is that it will not tell an employer whether someone was intoxicated and under the influence while at work.
It will explain what person consumed in the past, during the free time, which may not affect the working productivity.
Some studies are not linking the home drug use and workplace accidents, and even though employers want to protect themselves, employees nowadays are not using drugs while at work.
The main problem relies on the idea that cannabis, for instance, remains in the body the longest, and it is the least illicit drug that may affect issues later. Of course, working under the influence is not problematic, but you may fail the test if you have consumed it during the weekend at your home.
Therefore, we have to expect that technology of screenings will change and provide more realistic and accurate results to employers so that employees that enjoy drinking a glass of wine or smoke a joint after work could do it without fear of being fired from job.