A Health Educator’s Guide to Understanding Drugs of Abuse Testing

The drug free workplace initiative was started in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan when he issued an executive order to develop guidelines for drug abuse testing for Federal Government employees.  Since then, most state, government, and private employers have adopted the policy of a drug free workplace.  Today, pre-employment drug testing is almost mandatory and passing the drug test is a condition for hire.  A Health Educator's Guide to Understanding Drug Abuse Testing describes in layman’s language the process of testing for drugs and provides coverage of what potential employees are being tested for, how the tests are performed, and what foods and drugs may affect the test results and may jeopardize a person's chance of being hired.   Written by a practicing toxicologist, this text gives health educators a solid foundation in the process of drug testing and helps them understand how different methods of cheating drug tests are rendered ineffectual.

Key Feature

• Contains a chapter devoted to designer drugs, including date rape drugs gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and rohypnol
• Three chapters discuss the various ways people try to beat drug tests
• Tables are provided for quick reference for various over-the-counter and prescription medications that may produce false positive test results
• One chapter addresses legal issues related to workplace drug testing

Table of Contents

Chapter  1  Drugs of Abuse: Past and Present
Chapter   2  Pharmacology and Genetic Aspects of Abused Drugs
Chapter  3  Designer Drugs: A New Challenge
Chapter  4  Evolution of Pre-Employment and Workplace Drug Testing
Chapter  5  Testing of SAMHSA and Non-SAMHSA Drugs
Chapter  6  Legal Issues
Chapter  7  Methodologies for Drugs-of-Abuse Testing
Chapter  8  Point-of-Care Devices for Drug Testing: Advantages and Limitations
Chapter  9  “Beating” Drug Tests with Flushing, Detoxifying Agents, and Synthetic and Substituted Urine
Chapter  10  Household Chemicals as Urinary Adulterants
Chapter  11  Urine Luck, Klear, Urine Aid, Stealth, and Related Urinary Adulterants
Chapter  12  Alternative Explanations for True Positives in Drug Testing
Chapter  13  Miscellaneous Drugs-of-Abuse Testing Issues
Chapter  14  Over-the-Counter Drugs That Interfere with Drug Testing
Chapter  15  Prescription Medications That Interfere with Drug Testing
Chapter  16  Passing Pre-Employment and Workplace Drug Tests
Chapter  17  Drug Testing of Hair, Oral Fluid, Sweat, and Meconium
Chapter  18  Herbal Remedies and Drugs-of-Abuse Testing

About the Author(s)

Dr. Amitava Dasgupta - Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, Texas

Dr. Dasgupta received his PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University and completed his fellowship in Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology from University of Washington School of Medicine. He is board certified in both Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology from the American Board of Clinical Chemistry. Currently, he is a tenured Full Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston. He is also the Director of Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology Laboratory of Memorial-Hermann Hospital at the Texas Medical Center, the major teaching hospital of University of Texas-Houston Medical School. He has published 175 papers in peer reviewed journals, many book chapters, monographs and abstracts. In addition he also edited three books and co-edited another book with Professor Catherine Hammett-Stabler of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Dasgupta is currently serves on the editorial board of five international medical journals including American Journal of Clinical Pathology and Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.