We know Drug-users will lie to protect their relationship with intoxication. One thing we have learned over the years is drug tests do not lie if drug testing protocol is followed properly from beginning to end. Sure there are such things as false positives from poppy seeds, allergy medications and other prescriptions. However, Drug Detections labs and counselors usually can discern the facts of the sample. Therefore, we encourage all parents with whom we work to randomly drug test their child with Drug Detection Laboratory's kits.

Drug Testing: There are few methods of drug testing, urine, blood and hair. Urine analysis testing is not only easy, but it also provides information about more recent use that other tests cannot provide. It is important for you to know what drugs your child is using. Your child might be telling you he has been smoking marijuana... But what other drugs is he using? No one knows unless you drug test him. He might be hiding the fact that he is using LSD, methamphetamine, cocaine, "E" alcohol or other drugs.

Drug Testing Needs To Be Random. If you let your child know he will be drug tested next week, then he will know he can get drunk or high tonight, because it might be out of his system by then(consult with your counselor to learn how long each drug is detectable).

One of the statements we have heard from many teens we work with is , "After my dad drug tests me, I go out and get high, because I know I won't be tested for at least a week." We encourage you to occasionally take a urine sample from your child on Friday night and let him think you are submitting it to the lab. Throw it away. Then test him again on Saturday or Sunday morning to get an accurate sample which truly measures if he is using drugs at the time.

Can My Child Adulterate a Drug Test? Possibly. One way your child might tamper with the drug test is to use a friend's urine. This happens quite often. He will get urine from a friend and pour it into the cup when he is being drug tested. Another way he will tamper with a test is by adding water, bleach or other products to the urine sample. Therefore, it is important you or another parent of the same gender be present with your child while he is testing. One tool you can use to determine if he has used another persons urine or added water to a urine sample is to use a digital thermometer. These thermometers are inexpensive. After you have taken the urine sample, check the temperature. The temperature should be close to 98.6 degrees. 96 degrees is the lower limit. If it is greater than 99 degrees then you have to check to see if your child has a fever. If he doesn't, then you know he has tampered with the test. Absolutely do not accept a urine sample under 96 degrees, because any temperature under 96 degrees most likely indicates your child has tampered with the urine sample. You can always collect another sample if it is under 96 degrees.

Now know that the volume of urine and the container you are using can effect the temperature. The lab suggests that the collection container not be glass or plastic. They suggest using two Dixie cups stacked inside of each other to keep it insulated. The lab also says not to set the sample down, because the counter, especially if it is ceramic tile will cool it down rapidly and that will effect the temperature reading.

In the past and currently, people believe if they drank cranberry juice it would flush their system so they would not test positive for drugs. As time went on people thought the same thing about drinking vinegar. The rationale was that marijuana sticks to fat cells in the body and vinegar would eat the fat, hence eating away the detectable marijuana.

Currently, some people think a dietary supplement called, "Golden Seal" will mask the presence of drugs in the body's system. In addition, there are many products in magazines and health food stores that are marketed as products guaranteeing a negative drug test result. These techniques are founded in myth. Many people buy the notion that these products work because they are being tested with drug tests which are not sensitive.

New Directions Counseling Associates(our counseling program) uses a company, Drug Detection Laboratories, which tests for as low as 15 nanograms of marijuana in the system, while many of the other tests only test as low as 50 nanograms. We can tell you we have seen many cases where a child has tested over 100 nanograms (the upper limit cut off) and ten days later test negative or below 15 nanograms (the lower limit cut off). Even a very sensitive drug test often detects marijuana for a short period of time in a young person's body. This is important in understanding why people believe in these myths that juices and other products work.

Some people do carry marijuana (THC) in their system longer than others, because THC is fat soluble. It sticks to the fat cells in the body. Therefore, the heavier a person is, the longer the THC will remain in their body. A very overweight person might have THC in their system for 30 days or more.

When they use one of the above mentioned products and then take a drug test two weeks later using a drug test that is not sensitive enough to detect drugs for a long duration, the test will come back negative. However, the drug user thinks the test was negative because of the product they use to alter the results. They developed a false correlation between the product and the negative test results. When they tell a friend how great the product is they used, and the word on how to beat a drug test administered by mom, the probation department, or the employer spreads rapidly.

There are some products that come closer to actually working. The best are about $25.00 - $30.00 each and claim they are only good for a five-hour period with gallons water. We do not know the accuracy of the claim, but five hours is not a very long period of time for that price! Because they are expensive some of our clients have told us they steal these products. We have heard from a local toxicologist these products will not work with random drug testing. They only work if your child knows when they are going to be tested.

Therefore, it is important you make sure you are drug testing your child not only frequently, but randomly.

To order drug detection kits, learn more about the protocol for proper drug testing, you can visit Drug Detection Laboratories, Inc. at http://www.drugdetection.net.

You can also email them at director@drugdetection.net. They do respond to their email's quickly..