The THC Drug Testing for Marijuana at Work Place

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the U.S. It is also called Cannabis as it is made up of the parts of Cannabis sativa, hemp plant. Many preparations from the plant are used as psychoactive drugs. The main psychoactive chemical compound of the drug is delta9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Certain tests can be performed in order to detect whether a person has consumed marijuana. This is done by the quantitative analysis of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its metabolite, THC-COOH. The THC Test is one among those drug tests. Many of the organizations and businesses perform the THC drug testing at the workplace. The time that marijuana stays in the body varies based on the amount of its consumption. Also it is based on certain factors such as health, age, and metabolism of the individual. Mostly it is available for 3-30 days after consumption.


THC test is very specifically important in employment of some sensitive positions such as security and those in army. In order to act as a deterrent for drug use, THC drug testing is performed in schools, companies and government organizations.


THC test may be performed using blood, urine, saliva, hair, and sweat. But the most commonly used sample for the test is urine. A particular cut-off levels for the drug are set by regulatory organizations. The urine test detects 11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (9-carboxy THC), the primary metabolite of THC. Many other types of tests that detect the presence of THC metabolites are immunoassay tests, and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).

Certain commercially available cards are present in the market to perform the THC Testing. These cards are 95% to 98% accurate. The cut-off levels for the drug testing are set to that of SAMHSA levels. This method of THC test with cards is very easy way to detect the THC metabolite at a cut-off of 50ng/ml. It means that the test results positive when the concentration of the drug is greater than 50ng/ml. The THC test cards are approved by FDA but it only provides a preliminary analytical test result. For obtaining a more accurate analytical result, a more specific chemical methods like gas chromatography must be used.

Phencyclidine and Saliva Drug Test

Phencyclidine is one of drug and it is also called as PCP or Angel dust. After taking this drug, user may think and act swiftly and may feel mood changes from euphoria to depression and causes increase in respiration rate, increase in blood pressure, pulse rate, profuse sweating and loss of muscular coordination. One of the major effect is self injurious behavior. If user takes overdose of Phecyclidine then it leads to violent or suicidal behavior. This type of behavior is dangerous to themselves and to others as well. Sometimes, overdose may result in coma or death of the user.

Using drug creates problems not only to the user but also others. So, it is necessary to find out whether it is being used or not. It is important to detect the presence of drug content in blood by using drug test. There are many drug tests such as urine, hair, saliva-drug test.

If it is urine test, within 4 to 6 hours, this Phencyclidine can found in urine. According to some factors such as metabolic rate, user's age, weight, activity, and diet, it will stay in urine for 7 to 14 days. The cut off level is 25 ng/ml.

Saliva-drug test is an affective way to find out the presence of the PCP drug in body in recent time. There are many tools available to detect the presence of drug, they are like tooth brush and it has collection swab instead of bristles. You can rub this inside of your mouth. It can be placed between cheek and gums to get sample of saliva. Before saliva drug test, a person should not take anything by mouth, the results may be altered. It gives the instant results. And it is difficult to adulterate. The detection period is 1 to 3 days for this drug.

Though there are some disadvantages, this saliva-drug test has become popular. It is a better way to detect the PCP drug in blood or body by saliva-drug test.