The Pros and Cons to Hair Sample Drug Testing
Drug Tests used heavily throughout doctor’s offices, businesses, and hospitals.
With the evolution of technology came along the ability to collect DNA. The process is simple and can be done through multiple processes. Drug Tests through hair samples are one of the few ways to obtain a result from a drug test.
Our hair collects metabolized particles from our body and traps them within our scalp.
This type of drug test can prove to be very effective but is not the ideal method for every situation. Here are some of the pros and cons to using a hair sample.
Pros
Drug testing is used to ensure that individuals are staying clean and away from the various drugs out there.
Hair samples are a great method to collect this information about a person. The hair traps the residue from various drugs in a person’s body and can hold onto that residue for a long duration of time.
Compared to other drug tests such as saliva tests, the hair sample can detect if a person has been using any type of major drug available today. The hair follicle holds onto the residues for months after the drugs have been taken.
This method is ideal for anyone looking for long-term drug abuse in someone’s system, eliminating any possibility of that person slipping by a drug test that can only pick up recent activity.
Cons
On the flip side, taking hair samples can prove to be costlier and a longer process than other drug tests. These samples must be sent back to a lab to get processed.
Running these samples, especially if the quantity of samples is high, can take some time for a lab to finish. Another factor that can be considered a con in this type of drug testing is how long this test can detect drug use in a person.
Let’s say a company is just trying to ensure that a new employee isn’t using drugs while working, well if they take a hair sample it could possibly detect a drug in their system that happened prior to their employment.
It could also detect something they are no longer actively using. This fact about hair samples places a gray area on whether it is the right method to use.
Hair follicle drug tests are one of the more popular methods being used, but it depends on the purpose of the drug test whether it is the right one to use.
If someone just wants to see recent usage they would go with one of the quicker methods like a blood or saliva test. If the purpose is to see any usage from months ago, then the hair sample method would be best option suitable.
When drug testing, it is important to know the different types and how they work with the human body to detect drug usage within an individual.
ReliaLab is your Drug Testing Nashville TN provider.
