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.

Related Links:
breathalyzer
alcohol test
alcohol tester

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…)