Many people are concerned about drug use today. There are different reasons for this concern. Some people work for companies that conduct random drug and alcohol tests for safety reasons according to company policy. Parents may be concerned about the influence of drugs and alcohol on their children. Family members might need to monitor a loved one to help them maintain a drug and alcohol free lifestyle.

A home drug test is a safe and reassuring method to accomplish any of these goals. It should be noted that while a number of drugs can be detected by these tests, there is only one way to insure results that will satisfy the requirements that most employers have in their company policies. A CLIA certified laboratory has the equipment that can conduct these types of tests under the strict guidelines mandated by law.

However, if a person is interested in testing themselves or a loved one as a preliminary check before a random drug test or as a way to monitor someone’s activities, then a home drug test will be of great value. Although the results will not necessarily pass the stringent standards set by law, they will indicate the presence of a variety of substances that may be of concern.

The methods of testing at home that are considered to provide instant results are the saliva test and the urinalysis tests. These two tests provide results within a few minutes and can be conducted in the privacy of the home. The hair follicle test, which is the most extensive in its procedure, requires a sample to be sent to a CLIA certified laboratory.

The home drug test using saliva as the test specimen, simply requires a saliva sample to be placed on a collection spoon that will indicate the level of drugs present in the body. This method will produce results in five minutes and will indicate the presence of four different drugs used in the past 24 hours.

The urine home drug test comes in two types of kits. One kit provides a sample collection container and a separate test cassette which is placed directly into a cup containing the urine. The other type of urine test provides a self-contained cup that integrates the test into it - No dipping, no mess. This type also has a temperature sensor that indicates whether or not the sample is actually at body temperature.

The urinalysis kits also produce results within five minutes, and both can test for the presence of up to ten different drugs that have been used in the last 72 to 84 hours. Both the saliva home drug test and the urinalysis tests are non-intrusive.

The hair follicle test, because of the extensive testing done, requires a sample to be sent to a laboratory. This home drug test will indicate the presence of many different drugs and can detect their use going back to three months in the past. The results can only be accessed by the person sending in the sample, so it is a safe and secure method of testing.