If you been following the ongoing saga of Charlie Sheen (and it's hard not to unless you've been living under a rock) you've probably heard that he passed not one but two drug tests. Now, if his behavior before and since then makes you call into question the validity of the tests, or you have ever known people who somehow always pass a drug screen when you are almost positive they are users, remember these two things:
1. Drugs tests only find what are designed to find
Each type of drug test is looking for specific drugs. At work we use a non-DOT 5 panel test for pre-employment and post acccident screenings. It tests for: Marijuana (THC), Cocaine, Amphetamines/methamphetamines, Opiates, and Phencyclidine (PCP). As long as your drug of choice is not one of these (for example, "spice" or synthetic marijuana), you'll pass.
2. There are ways to pass the test even if you are actively using one of the substances for which it tests
Some of the more basic include sending someone clean to take the test for you (works better if the testing center doesn't check ID) and smuggling someone else's urine into the test- one reason they test the temp of the urine you submit (the Whizzinator showed capitalism at work in this regard). There are also various other products that purportedly will help you pass when you should really fail.
What do Charlie's passing drug tests indicate? If I laid odds, I'd say his behavior indicates #1 at work, some type of underlying medical/mental problem (some of his comments have just made no rational sense), or a combination thereof.
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