Advantages of Hair Drug Testing Over Urine Drug Testing

Urine analysis as a drug test is the most common method to detect and confirm any suspicion of individuals under drug influence. Urine drug testing is trusted in institutions in both the public and the private sector. However, newer technology like oral sample drug tests and hair drug testing presents advantages for employers, parents, or anyone who is interested and concerned about their loved ones.

Hair Drugs Tests Detect Longer

The time detection rate of hair drug tests is longer. In fact, scientists have discovered drug used in Chilean and Peruvian mummies dating back to 1000 B.C. Therefore, there is a lot of information that can be stored in our hair. An illegal drugs abuser with the prior knowledge of drug testing can abstain for three days to two weeks before submitting to a urine drug tests. With urine drug tests, these violators go away scot-free.

With hair drug testing, detection rate can go up to three months or 90 days. That is why more employers are turning to hair drug test for this reason alone. Employers do not care about applicants using drugs now as much as the pattern or history of drug use. Most importantly, hair drug testers can accurately give a timeline of the violators drug use. Hair drug testing is fundamentally more relevant in the work place.

Hair Drug Tests have no risk of Adulteration

Adulteration or switching urine samples prior to a drug test is one of the common methods to escape a positive reading. Usually, a “clean” friend donates his urine sample to the drug user so that he can be accepted into a job. This method is also used in violators who are applying for a driver’s license.

However, hair samples are hard to switch. Hair drug testers can easily pluck a hair strand from an individual. In comparison with urine drug testing where the extracting a sample should be done privately, hair drug testing is a non-intrusive and non-embarrassing method in taking samples for drug tests.

At the same time, hair drug tests can be done without the knowledge of the person being tested. A hair follicle sample can be taken from a hair brush or a comb. This is most useful for parents who want to avoid asking their children to take a urine drug tests. With this method, teenage drug abusers won’t know if they are being tested.

Cost Effective
With the different advantages of hair drug testing, employers and company looks at cost efficiency to justify the use of hair sample drug testing. While it is more expensive than traditional drug tests, the accuracy and detection range of hair drug tests prevents greater costs associated with impaired or delinquent workers. Hair drug testing promises cost efficiency in the long run while ensuring a more robust, dynamic and drug-free workforce.