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Dark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-22-09 04:37 PM
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For those of you seeking information on drug testing, here's a few links that may help:
Considering that if you enter "pass" into google, the second suggested search is "pass a drug test," I figured that many people are interested in information about drug tests. Also, it seems like there is always a request for help on drug tests. Nevertheless, wild rumors beyond number circulate about drug tests. Thus, I compiled this guide for help in informing ourselves about this practice.

Before I say anything, I want to point out that abstinence is the most effective (though sadly NOT 100% foolproof) method to pass a test.

Also, I want to add something. Detox products DON'T WORK. Labs test for masking agents now, and the detox formulas aren't effective. You know why they offer a 500% guarantee on your money? Because they know you won't sue them.

Also note, there are some conflicts even among reliable sources. However, these are the best tips from good sources I could find.

Now, on to business...

Part I: The tests themselves

First of all, the good news. Only FIVE PERCENT of drug tests in the U.S. turn out positive, so even if you include only the 20 percent of MJ chronic users and the smaller percentiles of other users, that's still decent odds.

Secondly, know about the tests.

Via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_test">Wikipedia, there are five types:


Urine.

When an employer requests a drug test from an employee the employee is instructed to go to a collection site. There, the employee’s urine is collected in a specially designed secure cup and sealed with a tamper resistant tape. The cup is then sent by express delivery service to a testing laboratory where it will be tested for several drugs. The first step at the testing site is to split the urine into two aliquots. One aliquot is first screened for drugs using an analyzer that performs immunoassay as the initial screen. If the urine screen is positive then another aliquot of the sample is used to confirm the findings by gas chromatography - mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) methodology. All test results are relayed to an MRO (Medical Review Office) where a medical physician reviews the results. If the result of the screen is negative, the MRO informs the employer that the employee is clean and has no detectable drug in the urine.

However, if the test result of the immunoassay and GC-MS are positive, the MRO contacts the employee and tries to determine if there is any legitimate reason for the employee to have a positive result such as a medical treatment or prescription. However, this is problematic for several reasons. First, most employees are not chemists, and are not aware of which substances which might create a false positive test result. Without such knowledge, they may not mention them, leading to the incorrect reporting of a positive result. Furthermore, non-drug users whose results are reported as positive will have no explanation for the error, and will therefore be reported as drug users. Conversely, drug users may understand that they will only be called if the result is positive, and therefore will tell the MRO that they have been cooking with hemp oil, drinking coca tea, or other plausible explanation for the result. If the MRO determines that the positive result may be due to drug use, the MRO then informs the employer of the positive result. Statistics show that about 5% of the urine samples tested in the U.S. turn out positive for drugs.


Hair.

Hair testing is considered accurate and can go back as far as 90 days?<21>, As hair grows out, any drugs used are encased in the hair shaft. Longer hair can reveal an individual's drug history spanning a longer period than shorter hair. Human hair grows an average of 0.5 inches/month, which corresponds to 30 days of possible drug testing for approximately every half-inch. Testing laboratories generally require between 0.5 and 1.5 inches for testing. This represents approximately 30 to 90 days of drug use. The standard for hair 1.5 inches or longer is 80 strand or 120 if only 0.5 inches as it is by picogram weight that the hair is uniformly tested. Some people attempt to circumvent this through shaving their heads. This does not usually work. In the absence of the required amount of hair on the scalp, body hair can be used as an acceptable substitute in the order of face, chest, arm pit, and on some occasions the police use leg hair that has a shorter slower growth rate. If all hair is shaven, the follicles of the hair may be used in place of the hair. Hair follicle testing is normally not part of an employer-based drug testing program using hair.


Saliva.

Saliva / oral fluid-based drug tests can generally detect use during the previous few days. Saliva or oral fluid based drug tests are becoming more prevalent because of their convenience and the fact that they are very difficult to adulterate. Furthermore, on-site oral based tests in particular enable the implementation of random testing programs, proven to be the most effective type of drug screening. Oral fluid based tests are as accurate as urine and can be obtained from suppliers in the United States. Testing is usually performed by employers, for either pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, or return-to-duty testing. Oral fluid based testing most closely mimics results found with blood and is preferable for detecting on-the-job drug use or in post-accident applications in this case because the degree of intoxication can be approximated based on the amount of substance.


Sweat.

Sweat tests are patches attached to the skin to collect sweat over a long period of time (10–14 days). These are almost exclusively used by child protective services, parole departments, and other government institutions concerned with drug use over long periods, when urine testing is not practical. The patches have security features that keep them from being covertly removed and then reapplied without the knowledge of the testing agency. At the end of the test period, the patch is removed by a social worker or parole officer and sent to a lab for analysis. If the person has used any drugs during the period that the patch was in place, they will test positive for that drug. This type of testing has fallen out of favor with government agencies due to documented problems with certain drugs.


Blood

In some situations, including accidents and roadside sobriety checks, blood tests may be used. Blood tests are a much better gauge of current impairment than urine tests because they detect the actual presence of THC in the system; however, they can be sensitive to other metabolites as well. Blood tests generally register positive for just a few hours after smoking, though heavy chronic smokers may be positive for a couple of days. Less sensitive are saliva tests, which register positive for about 2-4 hours after smoking. If you have used marijuana in the last few days but are not currently under the influence, you should insist on a blood (or saliva) test instead of a urine test if at all possible, since you are more likely to turn up clean. On the other hand, if you have smoked recently, you may do better to take a urine test, since this will at least leave open the question as to whether you were under the influence. Also, urine doesn't turn positive until several minutes after smoking.

Thirdly, from http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/testing/testing_info1.shtml">Erowid, here are the approximate amounts of time it takes to clear out of your system:






Part II: What to do about the tests

Firstly, BE CAREFUL!!! Everyone's different, so some tips may not be a good idea for certain people (i.e. diabetics)

Now, here are some tips on preparing for a urine test (Most taken from http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4934">NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws)):

DON'T RELY ON EXCUSES: Although urine tests are far from infallible, it is difficult to challenge positive test results. "False positives," in which workers are wrongfully accused of marijuana use, are highly unlikely so long as labs exercise proper care (however, not all labs do this). The standard procedure is to first screen the samples with an immunoassay test (e.g., EMIT® or RIA®), then confirm positive results with the more accurate gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS). This virtually eliminates the chance of false positives in exchange for a relatively high rate of "false negatives," where drug use is not detected. The sensitivity of the test is determined by the concentration of metabolites it is set to detect: for the Dept. of Transportation, the standard cutoff is 50 nanograms/milliliter (ng/ml).

No substance is known to produce a false positive for marijuana. It used to be that ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin) interfered with the marijuana test, but this problem has been fixed. A variety of over-the-counter medicines can cause false positives for amphetamine and other illicit drugs on the EMIT test, but not on the GCMS.

WASH YOURSELF OUT:

- Drink about 1-2 liters of water or cranberry juice about 1-2 hours before the test (BE CAREFUL NOT TO DRINK TOO MUCH!!! WATER CAN KILL YOU IN LARGE ENOUGH DOSES!!!)
- Take B-Vitamins. They'll help keep your urine the right color (if it's too clear, technicians will become suspicious).
- Take diuretics (chemicals that make you pee). (The following regime has been suggested by a former army drug testing officer (Robert Freeman, "How to 'Beat' a Drug Test," High Times, Aug. 1988): Take an 80-milligram dose of Lasix; take a hefty drink of water; piss two or three times, then take the test. If you're lucky and didn't smoke too much pot, a good washout may get you past a test on a couple days' notice. However, regular smokers should allow at least a week or two if at all possible.)
- Again, don't bother with those detox products.
- Exercise up to the day before the test for Mj. It's a fat-soluble molecule that is searched for. More calories burning = more of the molecules being removed from your system.
- Eat red meat. You need to up your creatine levels, as low levels indicate dilution, which equals a failed test.
- Eat/Drink Cranberry products the days before the test.
- Remember that they test the temperature of the urine! Be careful about using someone else's urine or dehydrated/synthetic urine, as some places require you to strip and get into a hospital gown.
- Eat lots of veggies. You don't want to be adding more fat.
- Also, eat lot's of protein rich foods, like beans or fish.

Part III: The day of the test

- Drink PLENTY of water.
- Urinate several times before the test.
- Don't take the test early in the morning or in the evening.
- Don't use the beginning or the end of the stream. Use the middle.
- Forget your Driver's license. I have heard, though I can't find a link, that in some parts of the country, you MUST have valid identification before you can be legally drug tested.

Part IV: What DOESN'T work

http://www.wikihow.com/Pass-a-Drug-Test">* Secondhand smoke.. cut off levels are set so as to keep one failing from casual second hand smoke .
* Poppy Seeds.. the current SAMHSA recommended cutoff level used in the NIDA 5 test, which was raised from 300 ng/mL to 2,000 ng/mL in 1998 in order to avoid false positives from poppy seeds You would need to eat a whole Loaf of poppy seed to register for even one day.[6>
* Adding bleach to nullify sample. BLEACH will change the ph and flag the sample as being tampered and you will fail. Drinking bleach will blind you and maybe kill you. <7>
* Aspirin.... taken before test covers THC by creating a false negative.. THIS IS ONLY UNDER IDEAL CIRCUMSTANCES and only for the EMIT test and not a gc/ms.
* Bleaching and redying your hair will not remove the matabolites from hair.]

Here's a video from High Times about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5B9rOK8bVw">drug tests.

Here's another one from <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZoD_YSR46I|Youtube.>

Good luck!

P.S. Mods, if this is found to be useful, can we stickie it? There's always a bunch of drug test questions, so this might help people.

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the other one Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-22-09 04:43 PM
Response to Original message
1. K & R & nt
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notesdev Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-22-09 04:43 PM
Response to Original message
2. regarding B-vitamins
I have heard - and this may just be rumor - that high levels of B-vitamins are cause to more closely inspect a particular sample.
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Dark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-22-09 04:50 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. I believe so. However, so does a lot of dilution.
They can see the color. They have to do an extra test for B-vitamins. I'd say that I'd rather have the color right.
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flyboyscotty68 Donating Member (60 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-04-09 02:55 PM
Response to Original message
4. most don't work
I have been busted by most of them. The tea the pills and even urine luck. The only one that works is the urinator, or the wizinator. They are 100% gauranteed. They can do it cause they use senthedic pee. None of your pee goes in the cup.
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