So does pregnancy impact drug testing? No, not really. Drug tests simply don’t work that way, hormones don’t influence the results and the test is usually noninvasive. Drug tests analyze the content of metabolites in a person’s urine. Metabolites are the byproducts left within the body after a drug in consumed and broken down with the body. Although hormones have altered many of the chemical levels within the body, this level(s) will remain largely unaffected. It has been feared that pregnancy and the drugs prescribed for the pain associated can deliver a “false positive” result however this is not true. The only way to have the key metabolites being tested within your body is to have ingested them at some point previous to the testing.

In addition the testing of oneself can be done so without any harm to the mother or the child. Most screening devices are done by analyzing the waste products of a person, like the urine or hair. The testing of these do not put the baby in harms way and do nothing to affect the ongoing pregnancy. Taking a few strands of hair follicles for a hair drug test has no effect on the child. However if one is using, or has issues with substance abuse, you are encouraged to detox and test yourself previous by visiting any hospital. By law the hospital staff can and will test any mother suspected of consuming drugs during pregnancy; if a positive result is attained for any reason problems will occur. Even minimal use and second hand smoke can be detected through this test which can lead to the involvement of child protective services and other law enforcement agencies if the unborn child is at risk.

Oxycodones, and other powerful pain medications similar to it, are the most abused prescription medications in the world. Why? They act on the opiate receptors in the brain giving the user a complete loss of pain and entering them into a blissful euphoria. Opiates are one of the most powerfully additive addictive drugs there is and the obtaining such powerful narcotics has never been easier thanks to pill mills and unscrupulous doctors. Undoubtedly you have heard of the more illegal versions, derivatives of the Opium poppy known as Heroin and Morphine. With so many of our nations young and old becoming addicted to this medication, Oxycodone drug testing has never been more readily available.

Testing is usually done by analyzing the urine of a suspected user and looking for certain “leftovers”, called metabolites. Expensive lab testing is available for blood analysis and hair drug tests are a great intermediary between urine screening and blood work. Once the drug is consumed these metabolites are what remain after the body breaks down and excretes the drug. Each substance has a certain metabolite and through analysis a drug test can determine whether or not a person has said metabolites in their body. Should a person test positive for this drug and not be able to provide evidence of a legal prescription consequences could be dire. Opiates and Oxycodone tend to leave detectable traces in urine for 1-3 days due to its water soluble nature. The bottom line is that OXY drug tests can detect high levels of opiates but is designed to screen specifically for certain opiates derived off Oxycodone (such as Percocet and Oxycontin).

Additionally, while many employers do mandate drug screenings prior to and during a term of employment, many also do not. And, drug screenings are not infallible, meaning that there are some unscrupulous methods that drug users take to defeat them. Lastly, some drugs – such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin – are only present in the system for so long. On that basis, if an employee is aware of the dates on which they will be subjected to a urine drug test – which most often is not something extensive and revealing, like a hair follicle drug test – they can better prepare to pass that test if they think that they might fail it.

So what are the costs of employee drug usage?

What is the impact of employee drug usage? It’s far greater than most people presume.

According to recent statistics, nearly 12-million people in the United States are currently using or abusing illicit substances, which can denote any kind of a drug. Far more are frequently using or abusing alcohol. Out of these 12-million persons, just over 9-million of them are employed at a job, either full time or part time. According to an expert study that was conducted as a Firestone Study, employees who are currently abusing or even using drugs are absent about five times more than employees who are not. Furthermore, the cost of employees using or abusing illegal drugs costs the United States nearly $250-billion annually due to the loss of productively.

It is important to note that these numbers lean greatly upon those who are abusing alcohol, which is a legal substance. About 60% of these productivity numbers actually stem from alcohol abuse, and not illegal drug abuse. Luckily there is even alcohol drug testing you can do on-site the minute you suspect an employee is drinking alcohol at work. So when you break down the real numbers, nearly $100-billion dollars is lost every year in productivity at the workplace due to the abuse of illicit drugs. Some additional studies have also demonstrated that most people who are using these drugs use them for recreation, and are not considered to be addicts.

The marijuana drug testing kit typically comes in two main types: a single use urinalysis drug test, and a long term hair follicle drug test. The benefits of the single THC drug test include ease of use and results which are returned quickly. The hair follicle test can test for other drugs along with marijuana, and can detect traces of marijuana use long after the subject has stopped abusing the drug. Either one of these marijuana drug test kits are great resources for parents who want to ensure that their children are protected from the dangers of marijuana abuse.

There are approximately 14.8 million drug users in the United States, and more than 3/4 of them hold jobs. Data from government studies has shown that drug users are “almost four times as likely to be involved in a workplace accident as sober workers, and five times as likely to file a workers’ compensation claim. Employees who use drugs also miss more days of work, are late more often and leave jobs without an explanation at a greater rate. These factors can wreak havoc on a business owner’s bottom line, costing them huge portions of profit in lost productivity, workman’s compensation claims, and property damage. A standard drug test, whether it be a urinalysis or hair follicle test costs as little as $2 per person and can significantly reduce the occurrence of drug use by employees.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/worldbusiness/10iht-users.4.5654684.html