To detect or exclude the presence of abused and/or illegal drugs. This may be carried out for a number of reasons including a pre-employment screen or to comply with a drug rehabilitation programme.
When to get tested?
If you apply for a job where drug screens are carried out as a routine. Personnel with drug and alcohol problems have worse records for accidents and absenteeism; for this reason many employers screen all job applicants prior to appointment.
If you have admitted having a drug problem and have enrolled in a detoxification or drug rehabilitation scheme.
If you believe you may have taken a drug accidentally or been given a drug without consent (e.g. drink spiking).
If you are admitted to hospital in an emergency and doctors think that your treatment could be improved if drug abuse could be proved or excluded.
If you take part in a sport at a professional level.
If you apply for an insurance policy – some companies perform limited drug screening on applicants.
For legal reasons (e.g. child custody cases).
Sample required?
A random urine sample is usually collected for detection of drugs of abuse although they can be detected in blood, sweat, saliva and hair samples.
