Cheating an at Home Drug Tests
One thing more and more parents are struggling with is knowing if their teen is using drugs or not. Many parents have suspicions about their adolescent trying drugs, or hanging out with friends that use drugs. There are many home drug test kits that allow parents to test their child themselves, but this isn’t always the way to go. Even with all the advances in technology and testing methods, kids are coming up with new ways to cheat on drug tests.
How to pass a home drug test?
Anyone doing a quick internet search can come up with countless hits on the topic of how to cheat on a drug test. Teens can and do try lots of easy-to-use tricks such as diluting urine samples with liquids, drinking or ingesting certain substances to mask the drugs, or trying to pass someone else’s urine off as their own. Websites market urine screens that “cleanse” the urine of illegal substances, or ship clean urine to be substituted. However, drug testing methods are becoming more and more advanced, and are able to even detect when a sample has been tampered with or diluted, but many of these tests are only found in a medical lab setting.
How accurate are at home drug tests?
Some parents believe they are doing a good thing when they make their teen take a drug test and it comes back negative. In many cases, however, a negative test result doesn’t mean the teen isn’t using drugs. Parents need to be more aware of the ways adolescents cheat on drug tests. While it is good to have trust in our teens, we need to be wise to the fact that a teen will lie and cheat to stay out of trouble. Parents cannot simply administer a drug test and believe their kids are clean. Some teens will change to a different type of drug, one that can’t be detected in at-home tests. Other teens switch to inhaling or ingesting other harmful substances that aren’t “drugs”. More than anything, it is important for parents to develop a good relationship with their teen and keep the lines of communication open. We don’t like to doubt our kids, but sometimes for their own safety, it is necessary.
Positive drug test excuses
Many parents that find their teen’s test has come back positive for an illegal substance will not want to believe their child is using drugs. Teens will come up with a host of excuses as to why they failed the test, and parents often believe the excuses. It is amazing how many times “I took a drink of my friend’s soda that was laced with drugs” actually works with unsuspecting parents.
Parents should work on getting to know their teen and their teen’s friends better, as well as what kinds of temptations are plaguing their kids every day. Home drug tests often give parents a false sense of security that their child is clean. If a test does come back positive, rather than listen to excuses, this is the time that parents should seek professional help for their teen.
Unsure where to start? Take Our Substance Abuse Self-Assessment
Take our free, 5-minute substance abuse self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with substance abuse. This evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are designed to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of a substance use disorder. The test is free, confidential, and no personal information is needed to receive the result. Please be aware that this evaluation is not a substitute for advice from a medical doctor.