Home-Use Tests - Drugs of Abuse (First Check 12 Drug Test)
What does this test do?
The First Check 12 Drug Test indicates if one or more prescription or illegal drugs are present in urine. It is currently the only over the counter test available designed to detect prescription drugs that are being abused. The test detects the presence of 12 prescription and illegal drugs: marijuana, cocaine, opiates, methamphetamine, amphetamines, PCP, benzodiazepine, barbiturates, methadone, tricyclic antidepressants, ecstasy, and oxycodone.
This test is done in two steps. First, you do a quick at-home test. Second, if the test suggests that drugs may be present, you send the sample to a laboratory for additional testing.
What are prescription drugs of abuse?
Prescription drugs of abuse are medicines (for example, Oxycodone or Valium) that are obtained legally with a doctor’s prescription, but are being taken for a non-medical purpose. Non-medical purposes include taking the medication for longer than your doctor prescribed it for or for a purpose other than what the doctor prescribed it for. Medications are not drugs of abuse if they are taken according to your doctor’s instructions.
What type of test is this?
This is a qualitative test -- you find out if a particular drug may be in the urine, not how much is present.
Why should you do this test?
You should use this test when you think someone you care about might be abusing prescription or illegal drugs. If you are worried about a specific drug, make sure to check the label to confirm that this test is designed to detect the drug you are looking for.
How accurate is this test?
The at-home testing part of this test is fairly sensitive to the presence of drugs in the urine. This means that if drugs are present, you will usually get a preliminary (or presumptive) positive test result. If you get a preliminary positive result, you should send the urine sample to the laboratory for a second test.
It is very important to send the urine sample to the laboratory to confirm a positive at-home result because certain foods, food supplements, beverages, or medicines can affect the results of at-home tests. Laboratory tests are the most reliable way to confirm drugs of abuse.
Note that all amphetamine results should be considered carefully, even those from the laboratory. Some over-the-counter medications cannot be distinguished from illegally-abused amphetamines.
Many things can affect the accuracy of this test, including (but not limited to):
- the way you did the test
- the way you stored the test or urine
- what the person ate or drank before taking the test
- any other prescription or over-the-counter drugs the person may have taken before the test
Does a positive test mean that you found drugs of abuse?
No. Take no serious actions until you get the laboratory's result. Remember that many factors may cause a false positive result in the home test.
Remember that a positive test for a prescription drug does not mean that a person is abusing the drug, because there is no way for the test to indicate acceptable levels compared to abusive levels of prescribed drugs.
If the test results are negative, can you be sure that the person you tested did not abuse drugs?
No. There are several factors that can make the test results negative even though the person is abusing drugs. First, you may have tested for the wrong drugs. Or, you may not have tested the urine when it contained drugs. It takes time for drugs to appear in the urine after a person takes them, and they do not stay in the urine indefinitely; you may have collected the urine too late or too soon. It is also possible that the chemicals in the test went bad because they were stored incorrectly or they passed their expiration date.
If you get a negative test result, but still suspect that someone is abusing drugs, you can test again at a later time. Talk to your doctor if you need more help deciding what steps to take next.
How soon after a person takes drugs, will they show up in a drug test? And
how long after a person takes drugs, will they continue to show up in a drug
test?
The drug clearance rate tells how soon a person may have a positive test after taking a particular drug. It also tells how long the person may continue to test positive after the last time he or she took the drug. Clearance rates for common drugs of abuse are given below. These are only guidelines, however, and the times can vary significantly from these estimates based on how long the person has been taking the drug, the amount of drug they use, or the person's metabolism.
| Drug |
How soon after taking drug will there be a positive drug test? |
How long after taking drug will there continue to be a positive drug
test? |
| Marijuana/Pot |
1-3 hours |
1-7 days |
| Crack (Cocaine) |
2-6 hours |
2-3 days |
| Heroin (Opiates) |
2-6 hours |
1-3 days |
Speed/Uppers
(Amphetamine, methamphetamine)
|
4-6 hours |
2-3 days |
| Angel Dust/PCP |
4-6 hours |
7-14 days |
| Ecstacy |
2 to 7 hours |
2 - 4 days |
Benzodiazepine
|
2 -7 hours |
1 - 4 days
|
Barbiturates
|
2 - 4 hours |
1 - 3 weeks |
Methadone
|
3 - 8 hours |
1 - 3 days
|
| Tricyclic Antidepressants |
8 - 12 hours |
2 - 7 days
|
| Oxycodone |
1 - 3 hours |
1 - 2 days |
How do you do the two-step test?
The kit contains a urine collection cup, a plastic lid containing 12 test strips, and an instruction booklet. It also includes a numbered sticker for confidential confirmation testing and packaging for sending samples to the laboratory for confirmation.
You collect a urine sample in the collection cup, and secure the lid onto the cup. The test strips in the lid contain chemicals that react with each possible drug and show a visible result for each drug they detect. Read and follow the directions carefully and exactly. If the test indicates the presence of one or more drugs, you should send the urine sample to the laboratory for confirmation.
Where can you get more information about drug abuse and drugs of abuse testing?
Back to Consumer Information on Home-Use
Tests
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