Hair drug testing is a rather simple procedure. To start, you remove a strand of hair from your head or the participant's head. This strand is then sent away to a lab for analysis. There are various types of drug tests available on the market. The two most common types of drug tests include urine tests and blood tests. These are also very effective. The downside is that they can only detect drug use that took place within the last three days. Thus, it is possible for a drug user to quit using illegal drugs for a short period in order to pass a drug test.

But, hair drug testing is more effective of the five main types of drug tests. Aside from urine and blood tests, a drug tests may be administered by obtaining samples of sweat and saliva. However, the latter two tests are prone to inaccuracies. Taking a hair drug test is a quick and easy. way to test because hair drug testing can detect drug use up to six months, habitual and occasional drug users are reluctant to take this test. The drugs, which have been used, are encased in the hair shaft, which becomes permanent. The only way to not detect drug use is to cut or shave the hair. Of course, if you were to shave your head prior to a hair drug tests, this may appear a little suspicious.

A hair drug test is able to detect the five major drugs. These drugs include marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and PCP. Failing a drug test may have serious consequences. The employer or agencies that administer the tests have different procedures. While failing a hair drug test will likely result in a denial of coverage with an insurance agency, employees who fail a random hair drug test may be allotted a certain amount of time to discontinue drug use.

There is a bit of a controversial issue on hair drug testing. Studies have found dark-haired people are more likely to test positive for drugs because they have higher levels of melanin, which allows drug compounds to bind more easily to their hair. Let's say a dark haired person who may have had some kind of environmental exposure to cocaine, but they didn’t use the drug themselves. Like a police officer for instance. There was a case in Boston in which seven police officers all tested positive for cocaine. Six of the seven former officers had a second hair test conducted that came back negative within days of the positive result. All drug tests were analyzed by a different laboratory and all came back negative.

If you’re a parent and are afraid to test your son or daughter for drugs, a home hair drug test may be the option to take. You can acquire a strand of their from clothing or a hairbrush and test them for long use drug usage. If the results come back negative, then they are none the wiser. But, if their test should come back positive, you can look to help them in getting over their drug abuse problem.

Prescription drug abuse is perhaps one of the most common forms of recreational drug use or drug addiction after alcohol and marijuana. Diet pills (speed) and pain medications (narcotics) such as Hydrocodone (Vicodin and Lorcet) and Oxycodone (Percoset and Endoset) are by far the most common prescriptions that are abused, but they not always intentionally abused, and rarely if ever, start out to be used in a manner inconstant with their labeling, if the prescriptions are genuinely written for that person by their doctor.

Prescription drug abuse is also one of the most embarrassing addictions, but one that thankfully is also the easiest to share with others, so that lessons learned may be passed on in hopes of raising awareness to this type of addiction. Since the drugs involved were not of the illicit variety, it is usually easier for a recovering addict to speak of his or her experiences with others.

Many people start out using their medications with the best of intentions, but may find themselves becoming addicted after prolonged use, or after mixing their medications with alcohol, either intentionally, or unaware that doing so may have serious and addictive side affects. Alcohol will increase the dizzying effect of narcotic pain relievers, and this can be a very pleasant side affect for some, but it can also quickly spiral out of control from occasional recreational use, to an outright addiction for the user that can be very difficult to recover from without treatment by professional clinics.

Diet pills are another source for prescription drug abuse that can start out with no intention of becoming addicted by the user. People who become addicted to diet pills may feel a psychological need to continue once they reach their desired weight, due to the fear of becoming overweight once again. They may also find that when they stop taking the pills, they feel tired and lethargic, due to the fact that diet pills are amphetamines (uppers). They may seek out the peppiness that now seems to be missing from their lives, and possibly causing them to be late for work, or to act sluggishly once they arrive. This can lead to perpetual use, in this case abuse, by the patient in question.

Prescription drug abuse should not be looked upon with the same disdain as the use of illegal drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth, or crack, which are almost always used intentionally for the sole purpose of getting high, or alcoholism. The resulting addiction to those drugs is understandably looked at with scorn by those who do not partake in the use of drugs for elation; however, such is usually not the case with prescription drug abuse.

One must remember that people who become addicted to medications dispensed by a lawful prescription from their doctor, took the medicine in good faith; intending to use it properly, and most likely became addicted by accident. There is a big difference in the resulting addictions caused by prescription drug abuse as opposed to those caused by intentionally using a substance that one knows to be an addictive drug.

Testing for the presence of illegal or banned substances has been in practice for some time, and is usually conducted by professionals and laboratories that specialize in drug abuse testing.

Drug abuse testing is mandatory by law for many jobs and professions, such as commercial drivers, law enforcement and other emergency personnel, and required by most employers and sports associations. The substances being tested for may not always be illegal; in the case of athletes, many performance enhancing drugs and/or steroids may also be screened for violation of rules, rather than laws.

There are two sides to the issue of drug abuse testing: safety of others, and the invasion of one’s privacy. Many people feel that had our forefathers foreseen the technology to screen our blood and urine for the presence of chemicals, they would have included bodily fluids into the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution; the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.

Others see drug screening as a way to keep them safer. For example, many people feel that it is legitimate to “invade our privacy” if it will keep truck drivers or forklift operators from operating potentially deadly equipment while under the influence of illegal drugs. Some people wish to work in an environment where they are not surrounded by other workers who use drugs, whether for safety reasons or personal preference.

In the world of sports, use of performance enhancing drugs gives an unfair advantage over other athletes who do not partake in the use of steroids or other boosting agents. Drug testing is therefore used by athletic associations to keep the players honest and within the guidelines allowed.

When drug abuse testing first came out, it was very easy to get false positive results from items that were similar to illegal drugs. Many people tested positive for heroin use from taking over the counter pain relievers such as Motrin, and poppy seeds were another common ingredient that gave false positive results. Over the years, the tests have become more refined; designed to screen out potential products or foods that could give a positive reading and possibly deny a person employment or worse yet, show drugs in their system after a fatal accident involving a commercial vehicle, where testing for the presence of illegal drugs is required by law.

In addition to the many labs and private companies that offer drug abuse testing on a commercial level, there are now home test kits available for parents who may suspect that their children may be using illegal drugs, or for people who may be facing a commercial drug test for an upcoming job interview. Many people still feel that these tests are intrusive to their privacy, and may elect to purchase a kit that allows them to “fool” the commercial test, and may use a home drug test kit one or more times prior to the actual test, to ensure that they will appear clean when they go to the lab.

Whatever reason you may have for taking one, or whether you agree with these tests or not, drug abuse testing has come a long way over the past decade and a half.