Significance of Urine Analysis Drug Test

By | February 16, 2011

There has been an increase in population using illicit drugs in the United States. It is necessary to determine the drug abusers and make them avoid drugs. Drug testing has to be conducted on such abusers frequently. Many types of drug testing approaches are available. Urine, saliva, hair, blood, and sweat are taken as samples from people. Among all the types, urine drug tests are conducted commonly when compared to other methods.

Urine drug tests are simple to use and economical. They also provide quick and accurate results. These are less intrusive when compared to blood tests. Due to these benefits, many people prefer to use urine tests in marijuana drug testing.

Urine drug tests involve the process of chemical analysis designed to test the suspect using urine sample. Urine analysis is used for detection of various drugs like marijuana, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, and phencyclidine.

Whatever the mode of administration of drug may be, it gets metabolized and enters blood stream. After absorption of the drug by the body, it gets excreted through urine. However, detection of the drug or its metabolite depends on physiological nature of the individual and amount of drug consumed. The detection period in urine varies for different drugs. Marijuana drug test using urine sample can detect the drug metabolite for 2-3 days. Drug detection period in urine for cocaine is 4-5 days, for amphetamines is 1-4 days, and for heroin is 2-4 days. This may also vary based on the frequency of drug consumption. However, urine analysis for drugs is more easy as the other methods include high laboratory processing for getting results.