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Several drug testing methods can detect recent drug use. But what if the objective is to see use further in the past? Hair drug testing is a valuable tool that can be used in substance use disorder treatment and judicial monitoring to identify substance use or medication compliance over a long period.
Hair analysis provides a continuous look at drug use over the past 90 days as drug analytes are incorporated into hair as the body metabolizes drugs. Hair is a “diary” of drug use that provides no gap in the record and assesses drug use over the past three months. Hair drug testing is an ideal risk assessment tool for clinicians to use with new patients to look for a history of drug use.
One of the greatest strengths of hair drug testing is its long detection window that spans from seven days after drug use to up to three months reliably. In some instances, a substance can be spotted up to a year after ingestion. This knowledge is valuable in several areas of toxicology testing, including these:
Hair drug testing can be useful in measuring long-term compliance for those recovering from substance use and addiction. Substance-use treatment centers, in-patient, and out-patient facilities, drug counselors, methadone clinics, private-practice physicians, and agents of the court can benefit from hair drug testing.
The brief detection window associated with urine, blood and oral fluid makes it impossible to infer prolonged drug exposure from a single test. Hair drug testing can be part of an initial patient evaluation to gather a baseline history and determine risk. Self-reported risk assessments have a place in patient evaluation but are unreliable. Hair testing is a way to get truly objective data on the previous behavior of a patient.
There are multiple agents with a legal interest in their clients’ sobriety, including judges, probation officers, and attorneys, as the stakes are higher with individuals who are court-ordered into treatment. Hair drug testing can verify abstinence from specific drugs of interest over a three-month timeframe.
Results of 2019 Cordant client satisfaction survey
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