#Quest diagnostic drug test pass windows#

The opiates family includes drugs such as morphine, heroin, oxycodone, and hydrocodone – basically, the painkillers.

#Quest diagnostic drug test pass windows#

Opiates have one of the shortest detection windows for urine testing. The topic of Drug Testing is a tricky labyrinth to navigate these days. Within the Benzodiazepine family, Oxazepam is an outlier with a detection window of 4-6 weeks. 68% of all drug tests.īenzodiazepines have a detection window from 1-14 days – depending on the specific metabolite being detected and frequency of use. Positive drug tests within this category make up for. However, positive drug tests do not include tests where a medical prescription is provided by the donor and the metabolite levels coincide with the amount prescribed.Īmphetamines have one of the shortest detection windows.īenzodiazepines (downers) include drugs like sleeping pills, tranquilizers, Xanax, and Valium. They are common from many different sources that include prescription medications. Here is a complete breakdown of the detection windows:Īmphetamines (uppers) are the second most commonly detected drug in positive drug tests at 1.11% of all drug tests examined. A single use may be undetectable in as little as three days, while long term habitual use can result in a detection window upwards of 30 days. Marijuana has a very wide detection window in drug tests. The uniquely long detection window for habitual marijuana use may be a large contributor to that margin. Marijuana positive drug tests make up 2.4% of all urine drug tests. Hair testing has the longest detection window, but serves mainly to determine habitual use – not individual instances.Īccording to a recent Index Report by Quest Diagnostics, marijuana is the most commonly detected substance in positive drug tests by a large margin. Urine tests have a much longer detection window than saliva. Each of the common drugs of abuse listed below have detection windows that reflect that.ĭetection period is also dependent on the type of testing being conducted. Habitual use also impacts the detection window. This is because each person’s body metabolizes chemicals at a different rate. The important thing to note when discussing drug metabolism and detection windows in drug testing is that we can only speak in generalities. The following chart, courtesy of Alere, illustrates how cut-off levels impact the detection window. For a drug test to be determined positive, they must pass the cut-off threshold. To prevent false-positives, drug testing labs institute cut-off levels for drug metabolites. It is possible to have trace amounts of a drug metabolite from foods or medications. This explains why drugs can be detected long after their effects have worn off. While the chemical makeup of a drug may dissipate quickly, the remaining metabolite may linger much longer. Some drugs may also contain multiple metabolites. Drug metabolites are the chemical byproducts of a drug being metabolized in the body. When the drug testing lab is examining a specimen to determine drug use, they are looking for traces of drug metabolites – not the drug itself. Drug testing detection windows will have an impact on the accuracy of your drug testing program and should influence your drug testing policy. As an employer, it is important for you to know this information. This article will shed some light on the most common drugs of abuse and how long they tend to stay in the system.

These are all common timeframes thrown around. “Cocaine is out of your system within a day” “Marijuana stays in the system for a month” Websites that purportedly help job applicants “beat the system” have a wide range of numbers for how long drugs stay in the system and most rely on common assumptions. There are many misconceptions and myths surrounding the process of detecting common drugs through a drug test.