Contents:
- Medical Video: How Long Do Drugs Stay in your System? | Drug Facts & the Body
- A urine test is not always to detect positive drugs
- How does the toxicology test in the urine work?
- Blood test procedure to detect drugs in the blood
- A urine test procedure to detect drugs in the blood
- How long do drugs last in urine and blood?
Medical Video: How Long Do Drugs Stay in your System? | Drug Facts & the Body
Just as the doctor's official prescription drugs, psychotropic substances and drugs also have a duration of how long they can "stay" in the body after the first consumption. The more and longer a substance can survive in the body, the stronger and long-lasting effects of the drug. This is what underlies the conduct of urine tests and blood tests by the authorities to potential drug user suspects, or even to prospective employees / students / students in related institutions.
Because the urine and blood tests can tell themwhether you are an active user or not - including the type of drug used. You can pass the test if the results of the test are negative, which means no drugs are found in your system. Have you ever thought how long drugs in urine and blood will last?
A urine test is not always to detect positive drugs
Tests to check drug levels in the body are called toxicology tests or toxicology screening. A textology test is carried out to check for the presence of drugs or chemicals such as drugs in urine, blood, and saliva.
As you already know, drugs such as drugs can enter the body's system by being swallowed, inhaled, injected, or absorbed through the skin. Tests can also be done on the contents of the stomach and sweat. But the latter two are very rarely done.
A toxicology test can recognize up to 30 different types of drugs in one test. The type of medication is not limited to narcotics groups only. The toxicology test can also detect official drugs for medical treatment purposes, for exampleaspirin, vitamins, supplements, can even detect blood alcohol.
Toxicological screening will be carried out for several purposes such as the following.
- For research purposes, for example, to find out whether overdose of certain drugs can cause life-threatening symptoms, loss of consciousness to strange behavior. Usually this is done in 4 days after the drug is eaten
- To see the use of illegal drugs that can improve athletes' abilities, such as steroids
- To check drug use in the workplace or for the recruitment process. Usually this test will be carried out in the workplace such as bus drivers, taxis to those who work in child care
- For the benefit of a treatment / rescue plan. Similar to the first point, screening of drugs in urine and blood can be done on people who have drug overdoses (not always overdosing on drugs; it could be an overdose of paracetamol that has the potential to damage the liver)
How does the toxicology test in the urine work?
Toxicological tests to detect drugs in the body can differ depending on the needs and methods used - through urine tests or blood tests.
Blood test procedure to detect drugs in the blood
Drug screening can be done with a blood test at a hospital or health clinic, in the same way as when you took blood. There is no special preparation before undergoing this test.
The medical personnel who are in charge of taking your blood will take the following steps:
- Wrap the elastic belt around your upper arm to stop the blood flow. This makes the blood vessels under the bond enlarge making it easier to inject needles into the vessels
- Clean the part to be injected with alcohol
- Inject a needle into a vein. More than one needle may be needed.
- Pair the tube into a syringe to fill it with blood
- Release the bond from your arm when taking blood is enough
- Attach gauze or cotton to the part that is injected, after the injection is finished
- Put pressure on the part and then put on a bandage
A urine test procedure to detect drugs in the blood
Drug screening can be done with a urine test in a hospital or health clinic, in the same way as when you check urine for certain diseases. There is no special preparation before undergoing this test. But usually there will be the same sex officer with you who will supervise and make sure you do not enter something or tamper with urine samples that can change the original results.
This is about the procedure to undergo a urine test for drugs:
- Wash your hands and make sure you are clean when taking urine
- Take the container that is used to put your urine. Do not touch the inside of the container with your hands
- Clean your genitals with tissue or cloth
- Begin urinating as usual, but urine must be stored in the sterile container. Make sure the container is filled with urine about 90 mL
- After that, make sure your urine sample is not contaminated by other objects such as toilet paper, feces, blood, or hair
Usually, drugs in urine or saliva are easier to detect than drugs in the blood.
How long do drugs last in urine and blood?
The following are the factors that cause how long drugs like drugs will persist in your system.
- The type of test performed
- Large doses of drugs consumed
- Body tolerance to drugs
- Body metabolism
- Presence of certain medical conditions
The following is how long drugs will last such as drugs in the urine and blood. It should be emphasized, that the information provided here is knowledgeable and does not intend to deceive those who will screen drug abuse.
- Alcohol will survive 3-5 days in urine and 10-12 hours in the blood
- Amphetamine will survive 1-3 days in urine and 12 hours in blood
- Barbiturates will survive 2-4 days in urine and 1-2 days in the blood
- Benzodiazepines will survive 3-6 weeks in urine and 2-3 days in blood
- Marijuana will survive 7-30 days in urine and 5 days-2 weeks in the blood
- Cocaine will survive 3-4 days in urine and 1-2 days in the blood
- Codeine will survive 1 day in urine and 12 hours in blood
- Heroin will survive 3-4 days in urine and 12 hours in blood
- LSD will survive 1-3 days in urine and 2-3 hours in blood
- Ecstasy or MDMA will survive 3-4 days in urine and 1-2 days in the blood
- Metaphetamine will survive 3-6 days in urine and 2-3 days in blood
- Methadone will survive 3-4 days in urine and 24 to 36 hours in blood
- Morphine will survive 2-3 days in urine and 6-8 hours in blood
The most accurate type of test to detect drug residues left in the body is through hair analysis. Hair analysis can reveal detailed history of alcohol, amphetamine, heroin, marijuana, to morphine use in the last 90 days.
