Marijuana Drug Testing Facts You Should Know
Dr.Kut | Feb 08, 2011 | Comments 0
Marijuana Drug Testing Facts You Should Know
Marijuana is a mixture of green or gray shredded flowers and leaves of the plant Cannabis Sativa. It is typically smoked as a cigarette or in a pipe. Recently, it has come in blunts— cigars which have been emptied of their tobacco content and re-stuffed with marijuana. Usually these blunts contain other drugs like crack. Marijuana is also known as herb, weed, pot, Mary Jane, or boom.
Taking marijuana could have adverse side effects on the people. This is the reason why tests are often administered by employers, probation officers, and even parents to ensure that the person concerned is free of it. In this article, you will learn more about Marijuana drug testing facts.
Marijuana drug testing facts – How it is Detected?
Marijuana is often detected by testing one’s body fluids such as saliva, urine, or blood. The specimens are collected and sealed for laboratory tests which can show whether they contain the substance.
When using the urine, marijuana is detectable for 48-72 hours after using it once. If the person is a chronic user, then it could be detected in the urine for up to 12 weeks. When using the saliva for testing, detection starts after 24 hours from taking the drug. Among all the bloody fluid tests, blood testing is the most expensive. However, expensive as it may be, it’s also the most accurate.
Aside from body fluids, marijuana can also be detected by testing the person’s hair follicle. The substance can be traced in the follicles as far as 90 days back from the time that it was used. This is because as the hair grows longer, the marijuana gets enclosed in the hair shaft.
Now, it is also wise to take note that marijuana drug testing can also pick up other drugs which the person is taking. For instance, if the person is on antibiotics or pain killers, the drug test may yield positive even if he or she is not taking marijuana. This can be labeled as “false positive”.
If you are going to have the test, it is best to tell the administrator whether you are on any prescription drugs beforehand so it could be noted. Make sure that the drugs are legally prescribed and not just being abused though.
When the drug test turns true positive, there’s no method to determine when the substance was taken exactly. Whether the test was done through taking saliva, urine, or blood sample, it can only show whether a particular drug or metabolite is present at the time of testing. It is not yet possible to establish how long the substance may have been in the person’s system. Aside from the time variable, it is also neither possible to tell how much drug the person has taken.
These are some of the Marijuana drug testing facts that you should be aware of. Knowing them could help you understand how the substance is detected in one’s system. If you need to take someone for testing or you need to undergo the test yourself, you know what to expect from the procedure.
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