Are you worried about passing an upcoming drug test, or you may think you might be in a situation where a random drug test is a possibility? If so, you should know the best possible ways to pass a drug test, right? Before getting into how to pass it, let’s get familiar with the situations you might find yourself facing a drug test, how exactly drug tests are completed, and what all drug test look for in your sample.
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Situations Where You Might Be Drug Tested By Officials
When people hear “drug testing,” they often immediately think of pre-employment screenings and routine employee drug tests. While this is definitely a situation where testing is a probability, there are actually multiple situations where you may find yourself subject to mandatory drug screenings, including:
• As a job applicant or employee
Employers may require a drug test as a pre-employment screening, as a contingency of a job offer, as a random ongoing part of employment, and/or as a post-accident protocol. State law largely dictates how and when an employee may be tested, and it actually mandates it in certain safety-related jobs, such as anyone being employed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• As a student participating in competitive extracurricular activities within a public school system
In 2002, the Supreme Court upheld random drug-testing programs in public middle and high schools for any students participating in competitive extracurricular activities, which includes EAs like band and debate. This is an opt-in decision for school districts, and, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, various state constitutions may lessen or expand such drug-testing programs.
A good example of this extended reach is some public high schools requiring drug testing of student drivers parking on their campuses. So, know if you’re an at-risk group for testing and how and when your school can test you.
• If you’re an athlete
Whether it’s high school, collegian, professional, or Olympian, athletes of all calibers and levels are subject to drug testing for continued participation in their sport.
• If you attend a private school
Since private schools do not accept public school funding, their drug-testing protocols do not fall under the same legal confines as public schools. These entities can randomly and routinely test any student for any reason so long as it’s outlined as such in their parent and student-signed handbook and policy and in accordance with state and federal drug-testing laws. Again, know your rights and know the school’s drug-testing policy.
• Court ordered drug testing for select groups
Local courts have the authority to require routine and random drug testing as a caveat of probation, following alcohol or drug-related arrest, and during child custody and divorce cases. However, according to California attorney B. Robert Farzad, those in a child custody dispute should remember that courts often don’t have the authority to demand drug testing unless evidence of habitual alcohol and drug abuse are present. The same is true in divorce proceedings.
• If you receive welfare or public assistance in certain states
According to The Conference of State Legislators, 15 states currently require drug testing/screening for public assistance applicants and recipients, and 20 other states have similar legislation up for the proposal.
What Forms Of Drug Testing Are Used By Schools, Employers, Courts, And Other Testers?
To understand passing a drug test, you must first be familiar with how you’ll likely be tested. Know how the laboratory test works, what you're testing for, and the collection method. Knowledge is power.
1) How does laboratory testing for drugs work?
Laboratory testing should only be done by a certified and reputable entity. Otherwise, the test may be considered invalid if there’s ever a legal dispute over the results. To decrease the chance of false positive/negative results, the lab’s drug screening program should include a two-step process of an initial immunoassay and a follow-up confirmatory gas chromatography-mass spectrometry test.
2) What drugs are included in laboratory drug testing?
According to Drugs.com, employers and other testers are expanding upon typical drug testing to include newer designer drugs. They’re also increasingly looking for ‘non-drugs’ with drug-like effects, such as Kratom.
As the National Institute on Drug Abuse points out, despite having psychotropic effects, Kratom is not classified as an illegal drug. Kratom isn’t going to show up on your standard drug panels, but it can be an embarrassing and harmful find if the lab runs an advanced panel.
Kratom use can also be problematic on drug tests that look for methadone since it can cause a false positive for it. It should also be noted that The Sherman Law Group says Kratom can land you a DUI if a blood test following a traffic stop or accident shows Kratom in your system.
The above in mind, most labs use one of these three panels:
Five-panel for common street drugs
- THC
- PCP
- Cocaine
- Opiates
- Amphetamines
10-panel for common street drugs plus commonly abused prescription drugs
- MDMA
- Barbiturates
- Benzodiazepines
- Narcotics like methadone and oxycodone
20-panel for all the above plus
- Xanax
- Methamphetamines
- Alcohol
- Spice
- Date rape drugs
- Extended narcotics
3) What are the collection methods for drug testing?
There are several options for obtaining a biological sample for drug testing. These include:
• Urine Sample
Due to its cost-effectiveness and ease of collection, a urinalysis of your urine remains one of the most common testing methods. Urine tests for both the drug compound and its metabolites. The window of presence is wide and can cover up to a month or more for frequent and heavy drug users.
• Blood Sample
This is a more invasive testing option that involves drawing blood from your vein for analysis. Unlike urine samples, it leaves little room for contamination or adulteration.
• Oral Swab
A sample of your saliva is taken via a mouth swab. While also easy and inexpensive, its reach is limited that it only detects drug use over a three-day window. It’s usually a testing method reserved for immediate suspicion of drug use, such as following a workplace accident.
• Hair Sample
It’s considered the best indicator of drug use over a long-term period since a single hair follicle can indicate whether you’ve used drugs over the last 90 days. The catch is that drugs like THC and Kratom don’t always travel to the hair follicle, which can offer you a clean drug test.
• Extended Sweat Sample
Testing of your sweat via a sweat skin patch is the newest non-invasive addition to drug testing, and it involves wearing a tamper-proof patch on your skin. According to Science Direct, it monitors drug exposure over a seven-day timeframe and is rapidly being introduced as a method for judicial mandatory monitoring and employment screenings, particularly in the case of weed use.
Drug And Physical Factors That May Affect Your Drug Test Results
There are natural and over-the-counter detox methods that can significantly increase your chances of passing your drug test by ridding your body of the drug’s molecules prior to testing. How effective are these depend on a number of drug-use and physical factors, including:
- How much of a drug was used
- What type of drug was used
- Frequency of drug use
- How the drug was used - smoked, ingested, etc
- Your individual metabolic rate
- Age
- Weight and BMI
- Level of physical activity
- Ph of your urine
If you’re wondering how long weed stays in your system for a drug test, WFM examines several studies on how the above factors play a role in marijuana staying in your system anywhere from a few days to a few months. Regardless of the low probability of it being tested for in the first place, Kratom actually has a crazy fast half-life and can actually be completely cleared from your body in a day.
The Demand For Detox Remedies Grows As New Drugs Emerge And Marijuana Expands To Multiple Marketplaces
With the inclusion of legal marijuana in many states, marijuana being the most recreationally used drug in the world, and many medical patients relying upon it as the most effective treatment for their disease, marijuana and its all its cannabinol counterparts have become a huge conundrum in the culture of drug testing. While it may be legal in your state or medically warranted, federal law doesn’t make that distinction and neither do most employers. As a result, more and more students, athletes, employees, and other at-risk groups for drug screening are searching for the best detox for drug test.
It’s a similar situation with Kratom. It’s legal and readily accessible for those looking for an opioid-effect without taking illegal or costly prescription drugs. When the DEA has a fact sheet on it, legislation and regulations are soon to follow, which means more and more users will be soon looking for ways to detox from Kratom for drug testing.
How To Pass A Drug Test By Detoxing Before You’re Tested
What are detox drinks and what do they do? Detox drinks fall under two different categories:
- DIY natural detox drinks
- Commercial premade detox drinks
Both options essentially work by flushing or detoxing, your body of drug metabolites that show up on various drug screenings for marijuana, cannabinoid-related products, Kratom, and other drugs.
DIY varieties of detox drinks are commonly made from ingredients you likely have around your home, which makes for a fast, convenient, and inexpensive way to pass drug-testing you know is coming in the next few weeks or months.
Commercial options may be harder to find at your corner store, meaning you’ll likely need to order these carefully crafted concoctions well in advance. Let’s explore both of your options.
Option #1: Natural Detox Drinks To Help You Detox From Weed And Other Drugs
Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Keep in mind that most of these DIY home detox remedies work best at helping you pass your test if you begin them as early as possible and allow several days or weeks to work. There’s no magic bullet, but these methods may be able to help you get rid of drug metabolites faster and more efficiently:
• Plain Old Water And Vitamin B Supplements Detox
It may sound silly, but drinking copious amounts of water leading up to and just prior to testing (an hour before) may dilute your urine enough to pass your test. It will also make your urine very clear, which is a red flag for testing facilities. The vitamin B complex supplement will help mask the pale color of your urine by tinting it yellow, according to this Livestrong Foundation article.
Do be cautious in not overdoing the water consumption, however. As WebMD explains, water intoxication is a real and dangerous medical emergency from drinking too much water too fast.
• Lemon Juice And Water Detox
Lemon juice is an acidic detox drink that has been used since ancient times as a liver, blood, and kidney detox. It shifts toxins out through the digestive tract and urine.
According to pathology and drug testing expert Amitava Dasgupta, Ph.D., lemon juice is one of the household drug-testing cheats highlighting the holes in today’s drug-catching test net. Mix a tablespoon of lemon juice with 500 ml of water and drink several times each day for a few days prior to testing.
• Cranberry Juice Detox
Pure cranberry juice is a natural diuretic to help you excrete THC through the urine and dilute your urine of the weed’s metabolites. Because large amounts make you lose electrolytes from diarrhea, which can cause hyponatremia, you need to mix your cranberry juice with electrolytes. Ideally, you’ll drink one or two glasses over a one-month period to flush the lymph, kidney, and intestines of toxins, but some recreational marijuana users stand by the effectiveness of a seven-day cranberry juice detox.
• Coffee And Exercise Detox
Coffee is another natural diuretic that can help you more quickly and efficiently expel drug evidence from your system. Beyond the diuretic effect, Healthline describes how caffeine in coffee is a metabolic stimulant. In other words, coffee can help you get rid of the drug metabolites stored in your fat cells by mobilizing them and helping you burn and excrete them.
Espresso is best since it has the highest caffeine content. Since your body builds up a tolerance or gets accustomed to caffeine easily, you’ll want to avoid all caffeine for a few days to a week before the coffee detox. Don’t forget to load up on electrolytes for the fluid loss and exercise to give your coffee detox an extra metabolic boost.
• Tea Detox
Black, green, and herbal plant and root teas are part of the keto diet, which, according to Mercola, is a key way to improve mitochondrial function and metabolism. Keep in mind that mitochondria are responsible for cellular energy metabolism. If you have hypertension, you’ll also want to consider that many herbal teas and caffeinated beverages can dangerously elevate your blood pressure.
• Fruit Pectin Detox
This YouTube video by Donald Green shows viewers how to combine Certo and Gatorade as one of the best detox drinks for a drug test. The ‘magic’ of fruit pectin is that it alters the solubility of THC metabolites by temporarily preventing them from becoming water-soluble so they can be immediately defecated from the body, thereby giving you enough of a window to pass your urine drug test. According to this Delphi Health Group Addiction Resource article, you’ll still need to dilute your urine with water, however.
• The Kitchen Sink Detox
Don’t go swallowing your sink just yet. This detox recipe gets its name from throwing everything in your kitchen cabinets with antioxidant, diuretic, and metabolism properties into a kitchen blender and chugging it down for a last minute effort to detox for weed, Kratom, and other drugs. Common ingredients include:
- Vitamin C, B-complex, and E
- Garlic
- Magnesium and calcium
- Lemon juice
- Ginger
- Cayenne pepper
- Apple (for malic acid)
- Raw egg (for selenium)
You’ll drink this concoction three times on the day of your test. Bottoms up.
Option #2: Commercial Detox Drinks To Help You Detox From Weed And Other Drugs
With polls like this one from NBC showing that the majority of Americans admit to at least trying marijuana and 44 percent saying they continue to use it today, it’s not a surprise that business entrepreneurs have developed a plethora of products to help detox the body of THC and other drugs.
After all, who wants to be held back from jobs, education, and assistance opportunities because of what you choose to do in your free time. So, here are some of the most popular and vetted commercial detox drinks to help you detox for weed and other drugs:
• Detox With Clear Choice Rescue Cleanse
(Image courtesy of Clear Choice)
Many swear by the effects of this commercial detox drink, and, unlike many of the other detox products, I can attest to Clear Choice Rescue doesn’t taste so bad. Here’s what you need to know about it:
- Must not use cannabis for at least 48 hours prior to drinking for maximum effectiveness.
- Must not eat or drink for at least four hours prior to using.
- Must carefully determine how much of the product to use based on your weight, with those over 200 pounds needing a 320 oz serving and those under needing a 17-ounce serving.
- Must drink around two hours before the drug test is administered; any longer or sooner impacts the effectiveness of the product.
- When ready, shake the contents of the product, consume it over a period of 15 minutes, refill the bottle with water and drink that over another 15 minutes, and then urinate the product out.
• Detox With Toxin Rid
(Image courtesy of Toxin Rid)
Toxin rid is actually eight different programs, or kits labeled one through seven and then 10, to help you remove toxins like THC from your body. Each kit features a combination of liquids, tablets, and fibers made from natural-based herbs, minerals, and vitamins.
You’ll select the product based on your exposure level to the toxin you’d like to cleanse from your body. The one-day kit, for example, is the gentle way to eliminate light toxins. Whereas, the 10-day product is designed to remove all toxins for drug testing.
• Detox With The Ultimate Detox Cleansing Drink
(Image courtesy of Ultimate Detox)
This UK product is labeled to remove all types of toxins from your urine in just an hour. The catch is that this Gatorade-lookalike product’s results only last for five hours. You’ll have a short window of time to consume it and get your drug test completed.
While there’s no shaking, anything other than the drink itself and water involved, and it’s a completely untraceable proprietary blend of carbs, you might want to peel off the “ULTIMATE Detox” bottle label. Discretion and all, right?
The right amount is also very important for this product. For those over 220 pounds, you will need to drink 1.5 bottles and drink 750 ml of water before and after the detox drink. The company says that drinking more or less can be “counterproductive.”
According to Ultimate Detox’s FAQ page, there are a number of manufacturer’s suggestions to help you maximize the product’s impact, including specific meal times, urination schedules, water consumption, and even exercise advice.
• Detox With One Shot Concentrate
(Image courtesy of Clear Choice)
This product is also made by Clear Choice. It features a 0.7 oz liquid shot concentrate and four herbal capsules that are purported to rid every single toxin left from a 10-day detox program. It also says it can help you pass a nicotine test, which is good info if you’re taking an insurance drug test and want to avoid a tobacco surcharge.
It’s recommended to keep refrigerated for the best taste, which I highly recommend following. Shake, drink, and it goes into action an hour later to help you pass your drug test for up to five hours after use. However, the product says that it’s most effective in the hour window after drinking it.
Some instructions you should be sure to follow:
- Avoid toxins and unnecessary medications for 48 hours before use.
- No food or drink four hours before use.
- Take two of the included herbal capsules immediately after use with 16 oz of water and then the other two 15 minutes later with another 16 oz of water.
- Add 8 oz of water if you weigh more than 200 pounds.
- Urinate frequently and avoid further foods and drinks until after your drug test.
• Detox With MEGA Clean Detox
(Image courtesy of MEGA Clean)
It’s a top detox product for mild to moderate marijuana users wanting to test clean on a urine test. It contains a one-liter bottle of cleansing drink in your choice of flavors and six pre-cleanse supplement capsules. The capsules are taken 24 hours prior to the drink, and you’ll be instructed to urinate as much as possible before consuming the cleansing drink to restore your urine’s natural background markers for testing.
The program is a combination of essential vitamins and herbs to quickly detox your system of THC. You must abstain for marijuana and other drugs for at least 48 hours prior to using MEGA. It’s recommended to take your drug test three hours after use.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, if you know if you’re in the probable category of being tested, you understand how drug testing works, and are armed with how to detox your body, you can figure out how to pass a drug test. If you use drugs, even occasionally, there’s likely always some reason for an entity who can drug test you on a moment’s notice. The combination of being knowledgeable and proactive may just keep you out of embarrassing and life-altering results from a failed drug test.
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