Question about prescriptions and drug screens

So What you are saying, there are loopholes to get high on drugs that the DOT doesn't screen....?

 

Correct. You are taking a serious risk, assuming your hair samples would be seized if you were involved in a serious crash. But if Xanax or anti seizure medication is your cup of tea, it won’t show up on a 5 panel urine sample because they’re not testing for it.

I know at least 2 megas do 10 or 20 panel drug screens, and since that’s not published by government I’ve never cared to look up what each panel as.

As a side note, it’s so 70s absurd that PCP is tested for, since it’s a pretty obscure drug among people born after 1965.

 

It’s true that metabolites will stay in hair much longer than urine, just as the stay in urine much longer than in blood. It’s also true that racial minorities with coarse dark hair are more likely to maintain metabolites longer than fair haired people. It’s also true that white hair contains no drug metabolites whatsoever, since the metabolites bind with the melanin in your hair. Hence, hair testing tends to discriminate against those with coarse, dark hair whilst giving older folks a free pass. This is just one of the reasons that hair testing may not take off, as it’s far from a sure thing.

And besides those issues, unless hair is being tested for specific metabolites they will not be discovered anyway, just as THC metabolites can’t be detected by an alcohol breathalyzer.

 

These testing methods are already here. In fact in 2015 president Obama signed into law upcoming rules changes. There are some kinks to work out mandated by the new law. Once these things are worked out the FMCSA will establish rules. You can go on and on about this. But it's coming.