Question:
The company I work for has decided to institute "random"
drug testing. My questions are:
1) what is the current legal status of drug testing in
the workplace? Is there a precedent?
2) how accurate is the latest technology (in testing
for pot)?
3) how long can pot be detected using the
latest technology? Are different types of tests
used depending on their cost?
4) is there anything that can be done to possibly cleanse
a person's system quickly or skew the results?
Any information will be appreciated. Or if anyone can point
me at resources on the net that would be helpful that would
be great also.
Answer:
If they choose to test there is nothing to stop them. Some states
have inacted legislation so that if an employee test postive for drugs
use the employer is to offer the employee rehab. Most people dont
know this and most companies dont honer this enless confronted. As
for a precedent I do not know of one. In the preliminary test many drugs show up positivwe as other
illegal substances. The sample should then be taken and a GCMS (gas
chromatigraph/ Mass spectrometer) test run on it to verifiy that it is
the substance itself instead of an over the counter preperation. Most
companies will not do the follow up as the gcms cost around $200 a
sample while the basic 5 panel test that recats to a certian limit
cost around $20- $40 a personOccasional smokers show POS for up to two weeks, Heavy smokers 30 to
45 days.
Yes there are three different limits for THC. the 25ug/kg level
hardley anyone passes since there are THC recptors in the brain the
metabolites occur naturally in everybody. the 50 ug/kg level has been
determined to be a fair limit. the 100 ug/kg limit everone but the
heaviest users pass.
Then there are different tests that can be run ie 5 panel , THC
metabolites, GCMS
Before going in to the test drink lots of water this dilutes the THC
in the urine but also shows up as dilute urine sport drinks help cover
up the latter problem so does taking a b complex vitiman and niacen.
