As an athlete, are you interested in learning exactly what drug testing involves? Are you a concerned parent who is desperate to find an inexpensive and uncomplicated drug testing method to ensure your kids are not taking drugs? Perhaps you are an employer who needs to find a less expensive, more convenient and quicker method of screening new employees for possible drug use. It doesn’t matter why you need to find an effective drug testing solution – the answer is hair drug testing! Although you may have read about this form of drug testing, you may want to better understand the process. There are many reasons why hair drug testing is increasing in popularity.
What Actually is Hair Drug Testing?
First of all, it is important to learn how this type of drug testing works. In a hair follicle drug test, approximately 50 1-inch hair strands are collected from an individual. The hair strands can be removed from any body part, not just your head. Then the hair samples will be sent to a lab in a sealed envelope where they will be tested. A hair follicle drug test can be used to determine possible drug use because any type of drugs deposit residue that remains embedded in the hair follicles. This method can detect almost any type of drug, including PCP, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and methamphetamine.
How Accurate is it?
Many people prefer to use hair drug testing because it offers a much higher accuracy rate than other methods. In fact, a hair follicle drug test can produce results that are as much as 10 times more accurate than other types of drug tests. Therefore, it is often used by a wide variety of people who need to screen others for possible drug use.
Why Choose Hair Drug Testing?
The quicker results and low cost of a hair follicle drug test are other reasons that make it so popular, especially when you consider its very high rate of accuracy. This is a simple method that remains popular because it is easier to obtain hair samples from an individual than saliva or urine. Many people appreciate the fact that this form of drug testing is not invasive in any way. Yet another advantage of hair drug testing is the fact that is able to determine drug use for as far back as 3 months. This enables you to screen individuals for a much longer time frame than any other available drug testing method.