random drug testing

footballcoach

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
8
Does anyone know if the service academies do random drug testing like they do in work places when the cadets/plebes/ensigns etc return from long breaks.
 
Affirmative! :eek: to all of the above and not only after long breaks, but at random times during the year.
 
They most certainly do, as does ROTC. Drug use is not compatible with military service.
 
Yep, I just had mine like three weeks ago. They do it by last number of your SSN, but its random, they do not go in order of anything.
 
most of them tend to fall after a long weekend or break, but there have been some at other times too.
 
Such a shame we have to do this but drug abuse can show up in any setting including service academies. My only surprise is that the academies are not using hair testing, as the detection time for hair testing is 3 months compared to urine which is only 72 hours at most an in many cases 48 hours. And wouldn't you rather handle/give hair rather than urine? In the long run, hair testing is much cheaper than urine too.
 
Such a shame we have to do this but drug abuse can show up in any setting including service academies. My only surprise is that the academies are not using hair testing, as the detection time for hair testing is 3 months compared to urine which is only 72 hours at most an in many cases 48 hours. And wouldn't you rather handle/give hair rather than urine? In the long run, hair testing is much cheaper than urine too.

Hair tests are not regulated, certified, nor accredited. The lack of certification for a lab test shows that the test has not reached that level of respectability.

For urine testing, there are two nationally recognized FUDT Certifications: CAP (College of American Pathologists) and SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association). Neither of these agencies give certifications for hair testing. CAP currently has nothing to do with hair testing and SAMSHA is developing guidelines for the procedure. If SAMSHA develops guidelines, one of the proposed guidelines is to require the test to be FDA approved.

SAMSHA currently is not certifying laboratories for drug hair tests.

Http://workplace.samsha.gov/drugtesting

STATEMENT FROM SAMSHA - Presently, urine is the only specimen collected for Federally regulated Workplace drug testing programs and for most private sector programs. Urine drug testing in the Federally related Workplace is currently recognized as the “Gold Standard” because of its proven accuracy, reliability, and fairness.

http://www.hgexperts.com/article.asp?id=5955
 
Minor correction: Psychemedics hair test is certified by the FDA. SAMSA currently does not certify any hair test. There is currently a proposal pending to approve hair testing for truckers and other federally mandated employees because of a GAO report that found 70% of urine test facilities allowed undercover government inspectors to fake their drug tests with adulterants or substituting another person's clean urine. A U.S. Dept. of Justice study in Cleveland, Ohio found when both urine and hair drug tests were taken at the same time, urine found only 8% positive whereas hair found 56% positive. Easy to fake a urine test -- impossible to fake a hair test. I look forward to the day we don't need ANY drug tests when people finally realize how harmful drugs are. Lost several people I know to dope. Such a shame. Think how hard young people work to get to the level to compete for an academy seat and what an honor it is to be chosen, only to throw it all away for dope. Insanity.
 
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