Pre-employment drug testing covers a wide variety of different drugs to ensure your workplace remains productive and credible. Pre-employment drug tests are ethical and easy to perform. Many drugs can be detected using a variety of different drug screening methods. Even alcohol use can be screened for. In fact, breathalyzer tests and oral tests can be used to detect alcohol consumption. This article will explain which drugs can be detected in pre-employment drug tests and some of their effects. 

Pre-Employment Drug Testing for Marijuana 

Marijuana is one of the most common recreational drugs. As it is steadily becoming legal across the United States, more people are accepting recreational use of the drug. With this being true, screening for marijuana in a pre-employment test can be more important than ever. Additionally, marijuana testing can detect THC, hash, and cannabinoids. Marijuana often stays in the system for a very long time so marijuana use can be detected even 2 to 3 months after consumption.

Cocaine

Cocaine is a more serious drug that can severely impede workplace performance. Notably, cocaine is a stimulant drug. Cocaine and crack, a related drug, can make users frantic and unfit for any workplace.

The trickiest part about workplace screening for cocaine is that cocaine only stays in a person’s system for a few days. Pre-employment screening for cocaine can keep current employees comfortable and safe to prevent any major disruption to the workplace.

Amphetamines

Amphetamines include drugs such as meth, speed, ecstasy, and crank. Like cocaine, amphetamines are also stimulant drugs. Also like cocaine, amphetamines only stay in the system for a few days. It is important to note that Adderall and other prescription drugs are also stimulants, so testing may detect amphetamine use in people with a valid prescription. 

Opiates 

Opiates are one of the more severe drug classes in terms of fatality and addiction. This class includes heroin, morphine, and codeine. Heroin has a reputation for being one of the worst drugs and it has no place close to a work environment. Codeine abuse is a little trickier to detect because it is more commonly recognized as recreational use of cough syrup. Cough syrup with codeine, morphine, and heroin can be detected up to 2 days after consumption

Ethyl Alcohol

You may not consider testing for alcohol use, but being intoxicated on the job is never acceptable, especially when machinery or vehicle are operated. Unlike many of the other drugs listed above, alcohol is a depressant. Depending on consumption levels, alcohol can be detected in the blood even 12 hours after a person’s last drink. Breath alcohol tests ensure your workplace remains a healthy and stable environment for productivity. 

If you want to conduct pre-employment drug screening for your company, contact Soteria Screening Laboratories at (202) 679-6670. The Soteria team has experts in workplace drug testing to ensure an ethical process leading to a healthy workplace environment. 

Besides pre-employment testing, Soteria Screening Laboratories also provides random drug tests. Random drug testing is performed using random selection and is not meant to single out a single employee. Contact Soteria Screening Laboratories today to discuss a testing strategy that best fits your company.