One of the major differences about drug testing in a corporate environment is that rather than using the standard urine test for marijuana drug testing, corporations generally use hair follicle testing instead. While urine testing is more cost effective, the down side is it has only has a small window of time that it drug tests for use. With hair testing, the span covered can spread as far as 3 years but is typically evaluated for the last 90 days before drug testing.

While the test itself may cost more, it is harder to cheat at hair testing. Moreover, hair drug testing is more effective for judging an overall period for the presence of drug use thus evading the mistake of hiring or retaining an employee who simply hides their use.

In addition to removing the need for the invasive monitoring associated with urine testing, hair follicle testing also saves time as it can be done in a much shorter time as compared to the time taken for urine testing. Saving time and offering the best possible environment for employees to work in makes hair testing well worth the added cost.

However, drug testing must also maintain the fourth amendment rights of the officer and so this drug testing must be done through the use of reasonable suspicion. Done this way, the rights of the individual are respected while verifying that drug use is present.

Typically reasonable suspicion means that drug testing is done only if when the officer’s work is suffering and their behavior seems abnormal. If clear use is witnessed or they exhibit symptoms associated with drug use, the suspicion is made clear enough for action. A supervisor must be able to fill out areas on the form which specify his having seen the behavior that led to the opinion that drug testing must be done. Only after these procedures have been done or if a major accident has occurred related to the officer can drug testing be required of these officers. Typically the drug test is done using a urine sample.

Marijuana drug testing typically involves giving a urine sample that is then tested for levels of THC. Urine is a good type of drug test for marijuana because the kidneys retain the THC until you urinate; the substance is only expelled with the urine. The amount of THC found in the urine is dependent on how much and how often the subject uses Marijuana as well as the rate of metabolism. Research indicates that heavy smokers of the drug have tested positive as much as years later because it can sometimes be retained in body fat.

Hair testing is also being employed to determine marijuana use but this method is for detecting past use as it takes at least 2 weeks for the THC to be found in the hair follicle.

Athletes have high rates of marijuana use according to a 2005 survey and so it makes sense that athletes would be tested for illegal drugs and performance enhancing drugs. Add to this the impairments on concentration, eye-hand coordination, motor coordination and increase of fatigue that the drug imparts to users and you can see why Marijuana is a drug that many leagues test for.

Marijuana is still a commonly used drug among teens and is often overlooked as a harmless drug. For these reasons, drug testing and evaluation of teens who use marijuana is an important step in educating these teens about the harmful effects of the drug and its use. Among these adverse issues are lowered academic achievement, higher rate of drop out, increased risk of criminal activity as an adult and a prevalence of psychiatric disorders.

Marijuana drug testing is done randomly among students who are signed up for the program (generally this is students involved in athletic and other extracurricular activities in line with the 2002 Supreme Court Ruling) and means using urine, sweat or saliva tests to determine the results. Many schools still rely on urine samples for drug test results due to their accuracy but others have moved on to using sweat and saliva testing because they remove the need for invasive monitoring of the drug tests and reduce the risk of the student tampering with the sample to avoid a positive result.

Each service member must undergo at least one drug screening each year. Those who are in the reserves or the National Guard must complete a drug test at least once every two years. When a sample is taken, the military member signs their own initials to the bottle. These bottles are boxed in batches and a chain of custody document is maintained while it goes to the lab for testing.  Anyone who touches and handles the batch must sign the form and document what they did with the batch while it was in their custody. These precautionary measures have to be adhered to right into the lab itself.

The samples pass through an immunoassay screening. Positive results are then put through the same process again. Those that are still positive are then sent through a gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry test. This will then determine specific substances in the sample. If the sample comes back lower than a certain level, it is reported back as negative. Using this method, false positives can be ruled out.