Covertly and confidentially identify controlled drugs

Oct. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Currently those wishing to see if there is a problem with drugs in their workplace, school or home are forced to rely on invasive measures. Typically, they must take a urine, saliva or hair sample from a suspected drug user and either use ‘indicative’ tests on the premises, or send the sample to a laboratory for more specific testing.

The issue with this form of sampling is that consent must be gained from the individual tested, or a ‘random sampling’ approach must be taken. Workplace drug testing schemes such as these are costly to set up and enforce, and are very visible.

The real benefits of this service over other drug testing kits available are that it is non-invasive, and can be used to screen for virtually all controlled drugs rather than selected ones. Forensic Manager, Dr Vanessa Kellie, explains the potential uses of the new service:

‘Drug testing is widely used in workplaces, particularly where the risk of having an employee who is under the influence of drugs would be hazardous. Rather than implementing a costly workplace testing policy and enforcing random drug testing of individuals, these kits can be used to covertly screen premises to see if and where a problem exists prior to tackling it.’

The swabbing kit is easy to use by anyone, and can be used to detect the presence of drugs on any surface. The swabs are returned for laboratory analysis, and a confidential report is issued to the customer. One of the major advantages of this form of analysis over traditional urine tests is that virtually all controlled drugs, including prescription medicines can be detected by this method.

‘Customers aren’t always just looking for evidence of use of cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine etc. There is often a problem with prescription drug misuse, more unusual drugs such as ketamine or mephedrone (meow-meow), and ‘legal highs’.

Another application is parents concerned for the welfare of their children. Many parents of teenagers suspect that their child may be taking drugs. This is a very difficult issue to tackle, and in order to address it there is a demand for drug tests to identify if there are grounds for concern.

‘For many parents, tackling a teen over potential drug taking can be stressful and fraught with problems. Rather than rushing in, getting some information first about what, if any drugs are being used in the home could help to direct the conversation.’


If you are interested in drug swab testing – email enquiries@gradkoforensics.co.uk or find out more at http://www.gradko.com/forensics/drug-swab-testing/