What Do Drug Tests Test for?

What Do Drug Tests Test for?

Drug testing involves checking a sample of your blood, urine, etc. to find if you have been using the drugs or a certain type of drug in question. You usually require a urine sample for the test but other types of biological sample may also be required in certain cases. In so many situations, you will have to undergo a drug test. You may require drug testing before being able to get an employment. Post-accident drug testing and drug testing for athletes are other common circumstances when a drug test helps find the answers. This often leaves people with a question, "What do drug tests really test for?" Let's find out more about it.

What Do Drug Tests Test for?
Different types of drug tests are now available to check the existence of certain drugs. The following tables show the drugs that can be detected in the drug tests.

1. Five-Panel Drug Test

Amphetamines	Meth, speed, crank, ecstasy
THC	Marijuana, cannabinoids, hash
Cocaine	Crack, coke
Opiates	Codeine, opium, heroin, morphine
Phencyclidine	Angel dust, PCP

2. Eight-Panel Drug Test
Eight-panel drug test includes five-panel drug test plus:

Barbiturates	Downers, secobarbital, butalbital, phenobarbital,
Methaqualone	Quaaludes
Benzodiazepines	Librium, Valium, Xanax

3. Ten-Panel Drug Test
Ten-panel drug test includes eight-panel drug test plus:

Methadone	To treat heroin addiction
Propoxyphene	Darvon compounds

4. Additional Tests

MDMA	Ecstasy
Hydrocodone	Vicodin, Lortab, Oxycodone
Anabolic steroids	Muscle-building hormones
Inhalants	Glue, paint, hairspray
Hallucinogens	Mushrooms, LSD, peyote, mescaline

How Long Can Drugs Be Tested in the Body?
Now you have got the answer to "what do drug tests test for" and got to know that different types of tests are available to identify drugs someone has used. However, these tests all have time limitations. Here is more about detection time of certain drugs in urine.

Drugs	Detection Time in Urine
Amphetamine	2 days
Barbiturates	Long-acting: 1-3 weeks; short-acting: 2 days
Cocaine	4 days
Codeine	2 days
Ethyl alcohol	Between 2 and 12 hours
Heroin	2 days
Marijuana	Prolonged use: 1-2 months; single use: 2-7 days
Methadone	3 days
Methamphetamine	Up to 2 days
Methaqualone	Up to 14 weeks
MDMA	Up to 2 days
Morphine	2 days
Phencyclidine	Up to a month in chronic users
Propoxyphene	6 hours to 2 days
Benzodiazepines	Chronic use: 4-6 weeks or longer; therapeutic dose: 3 days

What Are the Possible Results of Drug Tests?
What do drug tests test for? It is a common question, but many people also want to know about the possible results of different tests. To learn more about it, you first need to know about the two types of urine drug screens.

• Immunoassay: It is quite cost effective but may fail to pick up on all narcotics. It may also give a false positive.


• Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS): If the result of immunoassay is positive and you deny drug use, you will need the GC/MS test. The test is more expensive as compared to the immunoassay. Test results will take longer to arrive but are usually more accurate.

Your test results will be expressed in nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). There is a cutoff point for reference. If your result is above the cutoff number, you will have a positive result. Your test result usually only shows if it is positive or negative instead of mentioning numeric values. Click hereif you fail a drug test.

Initial Test Analyte	Initial Test Cutoff Concentration (ng/mL)	Confirmatory Test Analyte	Confirmatory Test Cutoff Concentration (ng/mL)
Marijuana metabolites	50	THCA	15
Cocaine metabolites	150	Benzoylecgonine	100
Opiate metabolites Codeine/Morphine	2000	Morphine/codeine	2000
6-Acetylmorphine	10	6-Acetylmorphine	10
Phencyclidine	25	Phencyclidine	25
Amphetamines AMP/MAMP	500	Amphetamines, Methamphetamine	250
MDMA	500	MDA, MDMA, MDEA	250

How Long Does It Take to Get the Results?
Apart from "what do drug tests test for", you may want to know how long it takes to get the results. You usually do not have to wait much to get results from workplace drug testing. Employers can also ask to expedite things a bit and get results on the same day of testing. You usually get negative results within a day, but it takes more time to receive results if you have a positive screen. It can take up to a week in some cases. A medical review officer (MRO) will contact you for further questioning if your test result is positive. You will be asked some questions todetermine if your test result is due to some medications that you may have been taking. The OTC, prescription, and herbal medications may affect your drug test results.