Health Center

Presence of Tricyclic Antidepressant (TCA) in more quantity provokes individuals to commit suicide. TCA has much impact on normal person than a depressed individual. TCA causes sleepiness, difficulty in concentration and thinking and unsteady gait in body. The Tricyclic drug test helps to find out the TCA levels in the system i.e. to fish out people who have suicidal tendency.

For whom this test is useful?
Trycyclic drug test is helpful in various situations and places in identifying the victims of the Tricyclic Antidepressant drug and helping them before anything miserable happens.

Employers:
You can make tricyclic drug test as a part of your recruitment process, which will help you in identifying candidates with high TCA levels. This test can be administered on the existing employees also to find out individuals with suicidal tendencies in your organization.

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Swab drug test is conducted to check for the drug abuse or the presence of alcohol in a sample. It is very easy to perform and it gives out accurate results almost at any place. It is so accurate that it reduces the risk of repeating the test. This test is just a single step process, which is very simple and any one can perform this test at any place according to the convenience.

• Prior to the test:
One has to be very carefull in conducting the swap drug test. In order to attain the accurate test result, the person who is about to undergo test is advised not to eat, smoke or drink for at least 10 minutes before performing the test. If the donor has had something, he has to wait for 10 minutes to give the sample for the test for accurate results.

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According to the study of “Teen drug use and attitudes”, it confirms that Generation Rx has arrived, as an alarming number of today’s teenagers are more likely to have abused Rx and OTC medications than a variety of illegal drugs like Ecstasy, Cocaine, Crack and Meth.

There is dramatic increase in the teenagers who are abusing prescribed drugs. This is Drug Misuse. Drug misuse means, use of any drug (legal or illegal) for a medical or recreational purpose when other alternatives are available, practical or warranted, or when drug use endangers either the user or others with whom he or she may interact.

Nearly one in five teens (19 percent or 4.5 million) report abusing prescription medications to get high and one in 10 (10 percent or 2.4 million) report abusing cough medicine to get high.

Based on the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) survey:

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The Department Of Transportation (DOT) has issued new rules for drug and alcohol testing, for all the transportation employers and safety-sensitive transportation employees. This new regulation was designed to prevent accidents and property damage that are caused by the misuse of drug and alcohol by the drivers. DOT has provided certain rules on how to conduct these tests, what is the process of testing and who to conduct these tests. These rules cover the employees of State and Local government who are required to have a Commercial driving License (CDL).

Education and Training of Drug Testing

Every company has to provide the educational materials for their drivers, which explains the requirements and policies for testing drug and alcohol ingestion regulations. According to the Sec.382.601 (b), the educational materials should include the following discussions.

· Personal identity of the drivers designated by the employer to answer the questions regarding the material.

· Requirements of the drivers, subject to the misuse of alcohol and controlled substance requirements.

· Explanation of safety-sensitive function to understand the period of workday that is required for the drivers to be in compliance.

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Drug abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a substance to escape reality to produce pleasure despite its destructive effects. The substances abused can be illegal drugs such as opium, cocaine, marijuana and their derivatives or legal substances used improperly, such as prescription drugs and inhalants like nail polish or gasoline.

Drug addiction can be physical, psychological, or both. Physical dependence refers to the physiological effects of drug use. On the other hand, using a drug to numb unpleasant feelings, to relax, or to satisfy cravings are examples of psychological addiction. Physical addiction is characterized by ‘tolerance’ – the need for increasingly larger doses in order to achieve the initial effect and withdrawal symptoms when the user stops.

Signs and Symptoms of Drug Abuse: -

The more drug use begins to affect and control a person’s life, the more likely it is that he or she has a drug problem. Drug abusers often try to conceal their symptoms and downplay their problem. However, there are a number of warning signs you can look for:

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Drug abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a substance to escape reality to produce pleasure despite its destructive effects. The substances abused can be illegal drugs such as opium, cocaine, marijuana and their derivatives or legal substances used improperly, such as prescription drugs and inhalants like nail polish or gasoline.

Drug abuse by employees cause many expensive problems for businesses ranging from absenteeism, lost productivity, accidents, and an increase in the health insurance claims.

A survey by the federal government showed full-time employees who admitted to being current illicit drug users tend to be: between the ages of 18 and 25, less educated, male, divorced or never married, white and low paid employees. The industries with highest rates of illicit drug use are food preparation workers, waiters, waitresses, and bartenders, construction workers and the workers in transportation and material moving.

The loss to companies in the United States due to alcohol and drug-related abuse by employees’ totals $100 billion a year, according to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. There are many impacts due to drug in workplace.

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THC (Tetrahydrocannibinol) is an active component in marijuana, which is commonly ingested by smoking and can also be eaten. It is the drug which is commonly a choice of teenagers and young adults. Low concentrations of THC persist in urine at a detectable concentration for many days after smoking. It is a common recreational drug of abuse. It is a hallucinogenic agent derived from the leaves, flowers or seeds of the hemp plant. Usually, the production and curing of the marijuana plant into its useable form closely resembles that of tobacco.

What is THC?

THC is an abbreviation for Tetrahydrocannibinol, which is the substance found in marijuana. As the active ingredient in cannabis, THC is what causes the pleasurable sensations those who take marijuana describe.

Signs of THC Marijuana Abuse and Addiction

A person who is high on marijuana exhibits tell-tale symptoms like, loud talking and laughter, sleepiness, distorted sense of time intervals and forgetfulness. Marijuana addicts are often focused on the drug at all times. Its warning signs include dependence, uncontrollable urge to use the drug, and mental fixation on the drug despite all the consequences associated with it.

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There is a wide range of drugs that are abused by the people for non-therapeutic effects and there are different testing kits that are used to detect the presence of these drugs. The drug addictive effectiveness differs from the drug ingested from person to person.

Common Drugs That Are Detected Through Drug Testing

The following are some of the common drugs that are abused by the individuals, which can be detected with different testing devices.

· Amphetamines (AMP): This is a schedule II forbidden drug used according to the prescription, which is also accessible in the illicit market. These drugs are the stimulants that affect the brain and body rapidly. These are psychologically addictive and if the addicted person stops using them will face various problems like, assault, anger and anxiety. Usually this drug effects for 24 hours and will exist in the body for 2 to 6 days.

· Barbiturates (BAR): These drugs are central nervous system depressants that are used to heal the tranquilizers, mesmerizing and anticonvulsants. Its effects are similar to that of alcohol intoxication effects. The detection period of Barbiturates is about 3-8 days. Continuous abuse of barbiturate can lead to clinically considerable level of tolerance and physical dependence.

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Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals. It is becoming easier mainly to youngsters to access narcotic medications like tranquilizers and stimulants, in which the abuse is rapidly growing. Some of the facts about prescription drug abuse are as follows-

• A considerable number of people are abusing prescription drugs. According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, an estimated 48 million people (20%) who are aged 12 and above of US population have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes or reasons.

• According to SAMSHA, non-medical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006. This was primarily due to an increase in the rate of pain relievers’ usage, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.9 percent in 2006.

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A drug test is a technical examination of urine, semen, blood, sweat or oral fluid samples to determine the presence or absence of specified drugs. Drug testing kits are efficient and effective at screening drug use. Most of the companies are getting all the tests approved from FDA and strictly adhere to SAMSHA cut off levels for drug detection. The tests have remarkable accuracy of 95% to 98%, which you can get better results. Drug testing kit is a self test product which you can use at your home.

Benefits:
There are many benefits of using drug testing kits instead of getting tested at traditional laboratories, which are as follows-

• Drug testing kit avoids the trouble of visiting clinics and saves time from waiting for a long time for reports.

• Test kits are designed such that the testing procedures are very simple.

• It is easy to use without requiring help from anyone.

• It provides quick and accurate results.

• It can be purchased through internet or phone call.

• Test kits are delivered at your door steps.

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