1. When students are randomly chosen to be drug tested they are escorted to a private area where the test is conducted.

2. A urine , saliva , or hair sample is collected by a trained school staff member OR by laboratory personnel with a school representative present.

   For urine tests, the student produces a urine sample in privacy. Urine Sample: Most urine cups are now designed to measure temperature and some can be tested for added substances to detect cheating.

   For hair tests: Head hair is cut near the scalp with scissors. The amount of hair taken is about the thickness of a shoelace tip, an amount of hair that is cosmetically insignificant. Only the first inch and a half of hair from the scalp of the sample is analyzed for drugs. For students with insufficient head hair, samples can be taken from the arm or underarm hair.

   Hair tests can detect drug use during the 90 days prior to collection. Students without accessible hair may be asked to submit a urine or oral fluids sample. For more questions about hair tests and how they are done, visit Psychemedics Corp's commonly asked questions .

   Oral fluids tests involve briefly rubbing a swab in the mouth against the inside of the cheek. The swab is then put into a container for analysis.

3. The sample of urine, oral fluids or hair is sealed and signed for by the student and collector, following chain-of-custody procedures written in the school's drug testing policy.

4. Urine and oral fluid samples may be subjected to a screening test at the school in which case the samples are sent to the laboratory for testing ONLY if the screening test is positive. Some schools choose to send urine and oral fluids tests to a laboratory for both screening and confirming tests. All hair tests are sent to a laboratory for both screening and confirming tests.

   

5. If the initial screening test is positive for drugs, a confirmation test is performed at a laboratory. Positive laboratory results may be submitted to a certified Medical Review Officer (MRO) to validate that the positive is not the result of appropriate medical use.

   Positive samples do not mean that the student has used illegal drugs unless the screening test is confirmed accurately and the test result is verified by a Medical Review Officer. An MRO is a certified physician with detailed knowledge of possible alternative medical explanations who will review and interpret the results in a way that is forensically and scientifically supportable.

   When the drug test results are verified as positive, they are typically given to only one contact person at the school. Drug test results are kept strictly confidential and only given to others at the school on a "need-to-know" basis.

   For negative results, parents may be notified of their child's test results.

   In the case of a positive drug test result, the student, parents and school counselor may be notified. If the student is on an athletic team, the coach is notified that the test was 'positive' if there are specified sanctions in the school policy relating to athletics.

Commonly Asked Questions

What drugs are usually tested and what drugs are sometimes tested?
Usually, the 5-panel drugs tested for are amphetamine and methamphetamine (powerful stimulants), marijuana (a psychoactive depressant, known to hamper learning), cocaine (an extremely addictive, powerful stimulant), opiates (very strong pain relievers with sedative effects and high rates of addiction), and PCP (a hallucinogen, often associated with distorted body image and violent behavior). Other drugs such as alcohol, Ecstasy, nicotine, and steroids are tested to a less frequent extent.

How are students protected from being falsely accused of drug use when they are around someone who is using drugs? (Example: at a rock concert where others are smoking.)
Environmental exposure does not produce positive drug test results.

How are students protected from being falsely accused of drug use when they are taking medicines appropriately?
The MRO is responsible for determining whether the positive drug test is the result of medical treatment. The MRO is able to reverse a "positive" result to a "negative" result if the student is taking medicine appropriately. In the case of prescription drugs, MROs will typically ask for prescriptions that would trigger a laboratory positive result. Then they will check with the physician who has prescribed the drug. If the "positive" is found to have resulted from medical use, then it is reported to the school as "negative," or drug-free.

Why are positive samples routinely retained for up to a year?
This is to permit retest in disputed results.

What if the student ingests poppy seed muffins for lunch and then gets tested for drugs?
Poppy seeds may affect a urine test if tested within a few hours. The test will be positive for morphine. Poppy seeds have small traces of opiates. It is the MRO who reverses this and declares this a negative test result.

The following are descriptions of various tests used to detect the recent use of illegal drugs.