Drug tests are carried out in the workplace as a part of a wholesome drug-free workplace program. Most companies have made it mandatory to ensure that their employees carry out THC positive drug tests for the use of prohibited substances. The purpose of this is to ensure the employee’s productivity level does not decline as a result of substance abuse.
In this article, we will explain drug test screening level vs confirmation level and what your test result means. We trust this article will be an eye-opener to helping you know your status after your drug test.
What is a drug test?
A drug test is conducted to discover the presence of any of the banned substances in the body. This process is carried out through various ways such as blood tests, hair tests, saliva tests, sweat tests or urine tests which is the most popular form of drug screening.
You will get your test result no later than 48 hours. For instance, the concentra drug test results time may take up to one or two days. You can also expect your result to be sent to you directly.
Which Drugs are People Commonly Tested For and Do Target Drug Tests Work?
There is no limit to the kind of drugs you can be tested for during a drug test exercise. The most regularly tested drugs are:
- Weed
- Cocaine
- Opioids, including codeine, morphine, heroin, among others
- Steroids
- Phencyclidine
These drugs are the main targets during the drug screening exercise.
Split-Specimen testing
If you are carrying out concentra drug testing, you would be required to carry out a split specimen testing when you provide your urine sample for a test. Many people do ask how much urine is needed for a drug test for employment? The answer is simple, you are to provide as much as you can get. The sample is divided into parts for further testing. For example, if your first test result looks inscrutable, in order to ascertain your result, the lab will make use of the separated sample to rerun the test. This is usually done to verify the result.
What’s a Drug Test Used For?
As earlier identified, drug testing is conducted to know whether an individual has been using illegal substances. A drug test can be used for
- Employment: Drug tests can be conducted during employment to identify whether an individual has a history of drug use. It is also used to keep the workplace safe and ensure that employees’ productivity level does not decline due to drug use.
- Legal purpose: Drug testing plays a vital role during an investigation of an accident or criminal activity. A court may mandate a drug test to be carried as evidence.
- Sports events: Drug screening is conducted on athletes to know if an athlete has not used an enhancing drug for the sports event.
- Opioid abuse: Many people engage in opioid abuse even though they are prescribed drugs. In order to prevent this substance abuse, you are asked to undergo a test by a physician. The purpose of this test is to know if you are using the right amount of the drug.
What Does My Test Result Mean?
Once you have been screened for drugs, your test result might come out in any of the three forms.
Positive
This is an indicator that you have toxic substances in your body system. The presence of the prohibited drugs in your body means that drugs have been detected in your body. Whenever you experience such, you might seek to retake the drug test.
Testing positive can damage your reputation and harm your career. As a result of these effects, many people who feel they have been exposed to any of these illegal substances try to detox their bodies and flush out any strange substance in their bodies.
It should, however, be noted that a false positive can also arise. This is why you should carry out another test after your first test to ascertain that there is no mix up with the first result. This is because you will not want a false result to dent your reputation. Therefore, you are to carry out gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Suppose you have a thc positive drug test result due to the use of prescribed medication. In that case, you should provide the documentation from your physician as evidence on why you need to use such medicines.
Negative
When your drug test result is negative, it means that the level of drug concentration in your body system is far too low for it to be detected regardless of the type of drug test you carry out. This means that there is no trace of drugs found in your system.
You should also note that most faint lines on a drug test are usually negative and as such you might not pass the lab test.
Inconclusive/invalid
When your drug test is inconclusive, it means that your drug test was not successfully conducted to warrant you getting a result. When you have an inconclusive result, your employer might request you to carry out another drug test.
Is a Non-negative Result The Same as a Positive Result?
You will be surprised when your drug test comes out as non-negative. You might even wonder if it means positive; the answer is No! Non-negative drug test does not mean you are positive. Instead, it means that trace of the drug present in your body is minimal. When such occurs, you would be requested to carry out the test after a couple of days. Failure to repeat the test might amount to an inconclusive result.
Difference between result test being positive and Non-negative
| Positive | Non-negative |
| A large trace of a drug is detected in your body. | The drug is detected in your body but only a marginal amount. |
| When your test result is positive, you can only carry out gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to ascertain the result. | When your test result is Non-negative, you will be asked to repeat the test after a couple of days. |
Conclusion
A drug test is a delicate exercise that is to be carried out with an utmost level of due diligence. You can use the split specimen method in a situation where there is a discrepancy in your urine drug test result.