RapidDrugDetection Articles

Drug abuse in teenagers has hit the recent shocking news. Students are getting addicted to illicit and banned drugs. As per the statistic study the types of illicit drugs abused by students are

· Barbiturates

· Amphetamines

· Cocaine

· Methadone

· Marijuana

· Opiates

· Benzodiazepines (more…)

Drug addiction is one of the sins committed by most of the people in the society. Drug addiction ranges from adult to old people, low class to ethnic people. Drugs are either consumed illegally or prescribed medications. Day by day the number of drug addicted people increase there by increasing the chances for death rate. (more…)

In late 1960 marijuana and caffeine are called as psychotropic drugs. Psychotropic drugs acts on the central nervous system and alter the behavior. Hence it is also referred to psychoactive drugs. Increase in the Level of serotonin due to the consumption of the antidepressants. Psychotropic drugs generate more than one effect and are classified in to four groups. They are stimulant, depressants, antipsychotics and hallucinogens. As the drugs are multifaceted single drug for instance marijuana possess depressant, stimulant and hallucinogen. These drugs are used as recreation drugs which change the behavior, mood and awareness. (more…)

Drug addiction is the process of hijacking the function of central nervous system by the drug. As the total control of the body is maintained by the brain, any defect in the brain leads to abnormal condition and finally results in death. The death related with use of one or more drug is called as acute drug death or overdose or poisoning. The majority of premature death is from the age 20- 44. The most victims are men than women at the mean age of 30. (more…)

The worrying fact of the present day life is that women are addicted to drug and alcohol equally to men. Drugs have captured attention of all age, races and ethnic of women. Women undergo different phases in her life right from childhood to old age. The three different phases of women are maiden, mother and crone. Women undergo changes both mentally and physically as the cross different phase in life cycle. The first transition of women’s behavior starts from pre-menopausal stage (below 10 years) to menopausal stage (above 12 years). (more…)

Amphetamines are psychotropic drugs that act on the synapses by increasing the concentration of dopamine and nor epinephrine neurotransmitters. They have a positive stimulant action on the nervous and the cardiovascular system. It can be consumed in a number of ways namely smoking, sniffing or ingestion. The mode of ingestion determines the time of appearance of the drug in the body fluids. (more…)

One of the widely affected groups due to addiction and drug abuse are the people involved in transportation industry. Studies point out that drugs and alcohol has been responsible for a huge chunk of accidents directly and indirectly. It also remains to be a major contributor for the morbidity and mortality in the transportation sector. It is for this reason that drug testing is very important for the employees of the department of transportation.

SAMHSA DOT tests for 5 drugs that are commonly abused. The sample that is tested is urine. The screening is done with cocaine drug test kit, amphetamines/methamphetamine drug test kit, marijuana drug test kit, phencyclidine drug test kit and opiates drug test kit. The urine is collected and tested in standard laboratories. There is a difference in other forms of drug testing and the SAMHSA DOT tests. In SAMHSA DOT tests, there is a special form called the chain of custody form that records the data about the people who have handled the samples and also where and all the samples have passed through.

The department of transportation has all the tests and proceeds done in accordance with SAMHSA DOT. And it is important for every test for the DOT testing to be in accordance with SAMHSA.

The results that are obtained from SAMHSA DOT tests are reviewed by MRO or a medical review officer who is qualified and licensed to interpret the results and give his opinion. The results are obtained within 2 days. The guidelines for this drug testing are given by the SAMHSA.

One of the main reasons why urine is chosen as a sample for SAMHSA DOT tests is that the method of collection of urine is non invasive. Moreover drug can be detected in urine long after the drug has left the blood.

Suggested Reading:
SAMHSA - Mental Health And Drug Abuse
National Institute Of Drug Abuse – Battling Drug Addiction
Domestic Violence Of Women And Drug Abuse – Positive Drug Testing
Mass Spectrometry
Lab Drug Test
Why should drug testing be made regular?

Many people believe that drug addiction mainly occurs due to the moral weakness of a person. They are of the opinion that anyone with will power can easily come out of drug addiction. One might not know the real complexity of coming out of drug addiction. The real fact is that drug addiction is considered to be a chronic and relapsing disease because of its prolonged effects in brain. (more…)