Saliva Drug Tests

Saliva testing for drugs is the second most popular method after urine examination. Saliva contains metabolites of drugs for relatively longer periods of time than blood, and this has enabled authorities to use it for testing. It is also a noninvasive procedure and the least intrusive of all.

There is no real inconvenience involved as you will not be asked to submit your urine specimen or have needles jabbed into your arms. The tester will simply take a small sample of your saliva to test for drug metabolites.

Saliva drug testing has a greater detection time than blood, and this can work against you if you have used a drug recently. Recent drug use will most likely appear positive on a saliva drug test, even if used in small quantities.

Amphetamines have a detection period of three days for casual users, and up to five days for those who are habitual users. Detection time can vary depending on metabolism rate and other factors.

Cocaine can remain in human saliva for up to 24 hours and methamphetamine can be detected within three days of use. Given the longer detection period for methamphetamine, some jurisdictions routinely call for saliva test to establish the presence of drug metabolites.

Although the drug remains in urine for up to five days, privacy issues and convenience call for saliva testing. Marijuana drug testing increasingly relies on human saliva for detecting metabolites. Marijuana can remain in human saliva for around three days in the case of a casual user, and up to a month for a habitual user. A positive result is almost always the outcome even if you have used minor amounts of this drug.

Codeine and heroin are also regularly detected by saliva testing. Codeine can remain in human saliva for up to five days for a casual user and up to a week for habitual users. Heroin stays in the mouth for three days though habitual users will test positive in a saliva drug test even after a week of use.

Opium also has a relatively greater detection period for saliva drug testing. You can test positive for opium use even a week after use if you are a regular user. For casual users, the detection time is around 72 hours though some can test positive even after 96 hours of use.

As you would imagine, results vary from person to person. Any kind of medical testing on the body depends much on the health of the individual, their capacity for the drug in question and the speed of their metabolism. It’s very difficult to accurately state how long a particular substance will be present in the body as everyone is different.

What we have tried to do here is provide the average detection times of the different compounds in the body. To be sure, it’s advisable for users to undertake a home drugs test to evaluate their own body performance and how long the metabolites stay present. It’s the only way to accurately assess how vulnerable you are to testing.

Other Pages

• Saliva Drug Tests
• False Positives in Saliva Drug Testing
• Popularity of Saliva Drug Tests
• Saliva Drug Testing