Facts About Nail Drug Tests

In recent years, new technologies for drug testing methods have been invented. One such test allows for the detection of drugs by collecting and testing small hair and fingernail samples have brought about important changes in the workplace and elsewhere.

Collection

• Testing

  In order to test for the presence of drugs, a trained person takes a small sample of clippings or scrapings from the subject's fingernails or toenails. These samples are sealed, labeled and sent to a specialized laboratory for processing.

Testing

• Think Twice

  At the lab, the samples are decontaminated then liquefied and subjected to a series of tests. The tests detect the presence of drugs that might have been used by the subject as much as eight months before the sample was collected.

The Drugs

• The standard five-panel test measures the residual presence of cocaine; amphetamines or methamphetamines; opiates like heroin and morphine; PCP, also know as angel dust; and cannabis drugs including marijuana and hashish.

Advantages

• In addition to making it possible to detect the use of a wider range of substances over a longer period of time, fingernail testing also addresses the objection of those who consider blood testing to be too physically invasive and urine tasting to be an invasion of privacy.

Criticisms

• There are still those who believe that any drug testing except for immediate impairment is a violation of personal liberty. Moreover, critics argue that far-reaching detection threatens to punish individuals who have stopped abusing drugs.