Drug Testing Our Kids for Drug Use

Imagine a life where all teens would escape the devastation of substance abuse and addiction.

How would our world look if all of our young people were strong and healthy?

I wish I knew.

The question of drug testing has come up numerous times as I’ve read articles, visited recovery focused websites and answered the questions of struggling parents.

But is it the answer?

I’ve been on the fence regarding this question for a long time. I can see the pros and cons and how drug testing could help parents know if there teens are staying off drugs. I can also understand the harm and false security a home drug test gives to our families trying to deal with their teen’s substance abuse.

The question of drug testing did not come up when raising my boys, but my daughter, the youngest, came home one day and explained with ridicule that her friend’s mom on occasion, had pulled a few hairs out of her daughter’s head at night while she was sleeping, and was sending them off to be tested for drugs.

It seemed to me, at the time to be over the top for this mom to go to such lengths. As you may have guessed, my daughter’s friend never seemed to have a problem with drugs. If you follow this blog, you know where our family headed.

Drug testing has its place. Our pro sports players are tested as well they should be. They are commanding outrageous salaries and are role models for our children. Some companies drug test before they hire, and they have every right to expect their employees to be drug free.

Currently, random drug testing can be conducted among students who participate in competitive extracurricular activities. Some private high schools are randomly testing their students to help curb experimentation.

Here are five types of drug tests that can be given:

Urine tests are the most popular among companies, schools, and sports agencies, though these tests are usually able to detect drugs that have been taken only within the previous seven days.

Blood tests are the most reliable, but are also highly invasive and expensive.

Hair tests can detect drugs that have been ingested as long as four months prior to the test, but they are more expensive than urine tests and are prone to false positives (for example, being in a room where marijuana is being smoked could trigger a false positive in a hair follicle test).

Saliva tests are easy to administer, requiring a simple cheek swab, and are becoming more popular. However, the reliability of saliva tests varies considerably depending upon the manufacturer, casting some doubt about their efficacy.

Sweat (Patch) Tests are relatively intrusive because they require the wearing of a patch for an extended period. The are relatively uncommon and controversial in terms of accuracy.

Home drug tests can analyze a sample for a wide range of substances, with nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana among the most common concerns of parents who wish to test their children.

So, the question remains, should we be drug testing our children at home to prevent them from going down the road of experimentation and possible substance abuse?

Mobile Drug Testing, LLC states on their website, “We believe that offering parents a safe, private, and efficient way to test their kids before they ever start using drugs is the most effective prevention. But we also want to help parents who are struggling to help kids who may already have tried drugs. We will come to your home and teach you how to perform a test. We will also make real tests available to you at less than 50% of what you can buy at a drug store and support you in reading the results and getting further lab work done if needed.”

Corinne Kligmann, CEO of Mobile Drug Testing, in an interview I heard recently, said that she was in favor of a random home drug test starting at about 10 to 12 years of age. She recommends explaining to your children that you love them, and you don’t want them to get caught up in something that can get out of control. There is an important window of time when they haven’t tried drugs yet, but they are about to.

Connie believes that a home drug test is a way out for kids. They can use the home drug test as an excuse to explain to their friends why they can’t use drugs. She said that if you drug test your kids before they need it, it will help to prevent them from ever trying drugs.

It is a sad fact that some teens will never recover from their drug use. The home drug tests her company sells costs about $15.00. It does cost about $20,000 for a 28 day stay in rehab if your child becomes addicted to drugs.

While Connie has a valid point about home drug tests, there is another side to this issue as well.

Pediatrician Sharon Levy, in an article from Health US News, states that she does not recommend that parents ever use home drug tests. Parents may be misled. The Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement opposing home and school drug testing until further research was done.

The Partnership at Drugfree.org weighs in with, “While home drug tests can be unreliable, having a doctor perform a drug test can be a helpful tool; Although be aware that teens find all sorts of ways to beat these tests and even professional tests can be inaccurate.”

Some parents who find out their teens are using drugs, try to handle it themselves. They buy a home drug-testing kit and begin administering random drug urine screens. This may work for a while, it may even solve the problem for some, but for others, the whole issue just spirals out of control.

Here are some reasons to not give your children a home drug test:

Home drug testing can give parents a false sense of control. Parents my delude themselves into believing they have the problem under control. They may find out too late, that rather than trying to solve the problem at home, they should be seeking the help of a professional.

There are many ways to cheat the urine tests, from online information to common home ingredients. This may leave you with a false sense of security in thinking your child is not using. Professionals have more information to get an accurate result.

There is no one drug test that you can give that will test for all the possible drugs your children might be using. If you are testing for one set of drugs, they could switch to another kind of drug, while your test would show they were not using drugs at all.

There are substances such as poppy seeds, cold mediations, and antibiotics that can cause potentially false positive results. An innocent teen may be falsely accused of illegal drug use.

The parent drug kit at Mobile Drug Testing, as one example is just $15.00, yet the cost can begin to add up, especially if you using drug kits in a general preventive way and testing more than one child.

real divide in the relationship between parent and their child.

Regardless of your decision about home drug testing, it is not a substitute for calm, regular communication with your teen about the dangers of substance abuse.

As a reminder, repeated drug use can lead to the disease of addiction. Studies show that the earlier a teen begins using drugs, the more likely he or she will develop a substance abuse problem or addiction. If teens stay away from drugs while in high school, they are less likely to develop a substance abuse problem later in life.

So what do you think? Should we be drug testing our teens? Let us know in comments.

If you liked this post, please share on Facebook, twitter and G+. Thank you!