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Urine Most Commonly Checked
By Hempology | March 15, 2007
Urine is the most common specimen collected for drug testing.
Brent Dawson is optimistic saliva will soon also gain favour.
Dawson’s Red Deer company, Integrated OH&S, has been supplying clients with oral testing devices for about six months.
It can detect marijuana, cocaine, opiates and synthetic opiates, and methamphetamines.
Many businesses rely on drug-testing companies to collect and process urine samples.
Jan Chandler, who operates Chandler Consulting Inc. of Red Deer, said such off-site testing helps ensure confidentiality, proper collection and processing, and is potentially less damaging to employers’ relationships with their workers.
“Basically we manage the entire program for companies, off-site from our offices here,” she said.
Dawson said a disadvantage of sending workers to a lab for testing is it removes them from the jobsite and could even force a shutdown.
Saliva samples taken at the scene can be tested within minutes, allowing work to resume quickly if the results are negative.
A positive test necessitates the taking of a second sample, which is sent away for lab testing.
Richard Robillard, who works with Dawson, said saliva samples are easier than urine to collect and to safeguard against contamination.
They will show if drugs were used recently, whereas urine may only reveal drugs ingested hours earlier.
Dawson said his company’s saliva testing devices have proven popular with clients like seismic companies that work in remote areas.
He added that they are being used widely in the United States.
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