Last updated : December 23, 2024
An ever increasing number of businesses are requiring employees to undertake random drug tests. The reality is that a safe and productive workplace depends on employees being free from mind altering substances. In this day and age, there are now companies that provide drug testing at the workplace site itself. This includes testing a group of employees at one time or testing a single employee believed to be violating company policy as it pertains to the use of mind altering substances of different types.
Although a test can be customized as needed, there are a variety of drugs commonly screened in a standard test. It is important for a business owner or manager to understand the scope of a particular test to make sure that it does meet the needs, goals and objectives of a particular business enterprise.
Drugs commonly screened in a professional test include alcohol, marijuana, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methadone, hydrocodone, opiates, phencyclidine, propoxyphene, oxycodone and phencyclidine. In addition, the typical drug screen also tests for synthetics that include substances like spice and K-2.
A business interested in screening employees for the use of mind altering substances such as those set forth a moment ago needs to appreciate that these drugs remain in a person’s system for different periods of time. For example, alcohol is detectable by a more standard drug test within about eight hours after ingestion while the THC in marijuana can be detected with approximately a month of use. (As an aside, there are more sensitive tests that can detect alcohol use after a greater period of time has elapsed.) The time in which these other substances can be detected after usage varies based on the specific drug and the type of test utilized.
