|
Wisconsin Locals Share Ways to Pass Drug
Tests
By
Jahna Peters
University Wire
February 9, 1998
(Badger Herald) (U-WIRE) MADISON, Wis,
-- As
increasing
liabilities force companies to mandate drug testing, more individuals
turn to
alternative methods to pass drug tests.
While the best way
to
pass a drug test is to clean up
beforehand, several folk remedies, diuretics and antioxidants may
increase the
possibility of passing a test.
According
to
the U.S. Department of Labor, nine percent of
current employees and 12 percent of job applicants test positive for
illegal
drug use. Because drug use results in an estimated 100 billion dollars
per year
in lost revenue, many companies require tests prior to hiring and test
randomly
during employment.
"It's
more
common to see drug testing today because of
the liability issues," said Annette Jay of Accurate Biomedical
laboratories. "The trend has been increasing greatly even within the
last
year."
The
increased
use of testing forces many individuals, using
drugs socially or continuously, to employ system cleansing methods.
According
to
Beverly Potter,
author of the book Drug
Testing
at
Work, an individual should start as early as possible to
flush his or her
system of any residue.
Drinking
excessive
amounts of water will dilute the urine
and increase chances that drug metabolites will go undetected.
Similarly,
diuretics such as tea, coffee or soda, increase urination and therefore
reduce
any drug traces.
Several
folk
remedies are also used to pass tests. Drinking
cranberry juice or vinegar, or taking aspirin flushes the system of
toxins.
Similarly, antioxidants such as vitamins A, C and E cleanse the human
body.
"My
friend
told me to try vinegar because it
practically sterilizes the system," said an anonymous UW-senior, "So,
I drank a half of cup. It tasted awful, made me feel like shit but I
passed my
test."
Several
herbal
methods claim to cleanse the system of
toxins. Products such as Naturally Klean and Fast Flush combine
numerous herbs
to target specific regions of the body.
"We
have
a number of products geared for cleansing the
system," said Julie Voelker of Community Pharmacy. "But because of
FDA legalities they don't say 'for passing drug test' right on the box."
Herbs
such
as chamomile, alfalfa, licorice, red clover, and
dandelion may combine to 1act as a natural cleanser of the blood.
"Each
herb
has one or two areas of the body that it
focuses on," Voelker said. "The more herbs you piece together the
better overall effect it has."
GoldenSeal
remains
the most popularly used herb, aside from
its natural ability to treat congestion and soothe inflammatory
conditions of
mucous membranes.
"It's
an
urban myth that if you take GoldenSeal that
you will pass a drug test," Voelker said.
While
sweating
removes impurities within the body, health
officials suggest not exercising 24 hours prior to testing. Exercise
can
release traces of the drug stored in the fat cells into the blood and
urine
systems.
Similarly,
time
constraints force many individuals to
sabotage their drug tests. Diluting urine with water, salt, bleach or
ammonia
can skew the results and eliminate any traces of drugs.
"My
job
called me the night before telling me I had a
test at 3 p.m. the next day," said Chad, a UW-junior. "I was in a
bind so I put some water in a sandwich bag, held it under my armpit to
get it
to body temperature and at the test I poured almost three-fourths of it
in the
cup. Amazingly, I passed."
Residence
times
for illicit drugs vary from 12 hours to 40
days. The average test detects usage of marijuana, which remains in the
system
up to seven days, and the use of amphetamines, which stay for up to
four days.
The
detection
time for barbiturates, opiates and alcohol
varies from test to test.
Drugs
such
as heroin and LSD remain in the body for 20 to 40
days, according to UW Health Services.
While
there
remains no scientific evidence that these
methods work, several pharmacies, publications and websites provide
people with
viable options for system cleansing.
Back
|