Drug testing is required of individuals for many different reasons. If you are applying for a new job, your prospective employer may ask that undergo a hair follicle drug test to ensure that you are drug-free. The numerous physical and psychological problems associated with taking drugs can cause problems with a person’s ability to perform job-related tasks.
Because drugs can be very dangerous to athletes and give them an unfair advantage over their competitors, many sports organizations or coaches require athletes to undergo drug testing. Some parents even decide to have their children undergo hair drug testing if they suspect possible drug abuse.
A hair follicle drug test is actually one of the simplest forms of drug testing currently available. All an individual needs to submit is one simple hair sample, which can be easily obtained. First, a hair sample is collected and then sent in a sealed envelope to a laboratory where it will be tested.
Many people prefer to use hair drug testing because it can be used to determine if an individual has used drugs within the past 90 days. Therefore, the results of the test will still show up as positive, even if an individual has taken drugs approximately 3 months earlier. This is quite different from other types of drug tests such as saliva and urine tests, which only detect drug use for as little as a few days. The reason that drugs can be tested for a much longer time frame is that small amounts of chemicals from the drugs are trapped within each strand of hair.
In addition, hair drug testing is faster and more accurate than almost any other type of drug test. In fact, the accuracy rate of a hair follicle drug test is often 10 times higher than other current methods. Many employers, coaches and parents choose this type of drug testing because they desire results that are very accurate.
Furthermore, hair testing is discrete and confidential. There are no saliva or urine tests, which can often be embarrassing for individuals to submit. All that is required is several hair strands to produce very accurate results.
