When you hear about a urine drug test, do you know exactly what they test for? What are the standards and what toxins are they looking for?

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations, short – SAMHSA, has specific guidelines that are mandatory for major employers to follow. To detect an illicit drug use the specimens are being tested for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates and methamphetamines. Normally, initial screening picks up at higher cut-off levels, and then if the sample comes out positive – they do an advanced GC/MS confirmatory test. However, a private employer can request a screening for additional drugs that are not on the list of SAMHSA – like benzodiazepines, barbiturates, synthetic opiates, designer drugs, etc. So, for instance, you have a standard SAMHSA test and you are worrying about suboxone showing up positive. No need – this is a synthetic drug that is derived only from a part of opiate constituents and cannot be detected in the same test along with other opiates – only the test that is specifically designed to check for it can detect it. It will be helpful to know that such drugs as fentanyl, hydracodone, meperidine, methadone, oxycodone also do not metabolize to morphine and codeine – the standard opiate metabolites that SAMHSA is looking for. Knowing what kind of test you are going to have can save you a lot of worrying or can help you to get prepared for it if necessary.