Common Drugs of Abuse - Cut off Concentrations and their Detection Periods (Drugteststrips)

Drug abuse is widespread and is one of the top health concerns in many countries. Drug abuse causes multiple problems to the abuser, his/her family and the immediate society. Physical and mental effects are quite obvious in the drug abuser. Drug abusers cannot function as normal citizens of the society. They neglect their families, become poor socially and economically and may also involve in crimes. It is very important to detect the drug abusers using drug tests to make them stay away from harmful drugs. Here we will look at some of the common drugs of abuse, their detection periods and cut-off concentrations in different drug testing samples.

Common Drugs of Abuse
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) recently stated that about 22 million Americans were abusing illicit drugs in 2009. Some of the commonly used illicit and prescribed drugs are Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Phencyclidine (PCP), Cocaine and Opiates.

Marijuana
Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in America with almost 16.7 million users. Marijuana is a psychoactive drug. The immediate effects of marijuana include relaxation, euphoria, and hallucinations. However, marijuana addiction leads to problems such as short-term memory impairment, red conjunctiva, and increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Methamphetamine
There were more than 500,000 methamphetamine users in America in 2009. Methamphetamine is also a stimulant that causes euphoria, mood elevation, and appetite suppression. High doses of the drug lead to restlessness, anxiety, irritability, tremors, and paranoia. It may also result in fixed and dilated pupils, and heart and brain dysfunction.

Phencyclidine (PCP):
Around 45,000 people started using Phencyclidine in 2009. PCP, a "dissociative" drug, stimulates central nervous system. Short-term effects of PCP addiction are drowsiness, lethargy, and disorganized thoughts. PCP abuse causes visual, tactile, and auditory misperceptions; slurred speech; and sweating. Severe psychological effects are seen among PCP drug abusers.

Cocaine:
There were 1.6 million Cocaine users in United States in 2009. Cocaine is a powerful nervous system stimulant. Cocaine enhances euphoria, alertness, energy and motor activity. High dosage cocaine abuse leads to convulsions, tremors and increased body temperature. Drug tests for cocaine detection check for presence of Benzoylecgonine which is the main metabolite of the drug.

Opiates:
Opiates including morphine, codeine, and heroin are derivatives of opium. High dosage of opium consumption causes depression of central nervous system leading to dizziness, lethargy, and drowsiness. Liver diseases, respiratory depression, and spontaneous abortion are caused by long-term use of opiates. Morphine and Morphine Glucuronides are the metabolites of opiates that are detected in drug tests.

Drug detection
Urine, saliva, and hair are the common samples taken to perform a drug test in order to detect the elevate levels of the above mentioned drugs. Detection period and cut-off concentrations of various drugs vary based on the type of test. The drug cut off concentration level is defined as the minimum level of drug or metabolite concentration in the specimen, which can be considered as a positive result. Amount of drugs that can be detected is based on several factors such as drug detection time, frequency of use, metabolism, specimen type, methods of drug testing, and others.

Urine Tests
Most of the illicit drug abusers are commonly tested by using urine tests. Urine drug test kits are available in the market for on-site tests or laboratory analysis. Urine drug tests are least expensive compared to all other types.

The cut off level for marijuana in urine is 50 ng/ml and can be detected between 2 to 4 days of consumption. Habitual marijuana use can be detected up to 30 days in urine. Cut off level for methamphetamine is 1000 ng/ml and can be detected between 3 to 5 days. PCP 25 ng/ml and detection period is 3 to 7 days. Cocaine 150 ng/ml and can be detected between 4 to 5 days. The cut-off level for opiates earlier was 300ng/ml. However, in order to reduce possibility of false positives, it is increased to 2000ng/ml. Opiates such as heroin, codeine or morphine can be detected for 2-4 days.

Hair Drug Tests:
Hair drug tests are accurate and can detect any type of drugs for 90 days. A hair sample of 1.5 inches of length is enough to conduct hair drug tests.
The cut off concentrations of common drugs of abuse using hair drug tests are: Cocaine (Benzoylecgonine) - 0.5 ng/mg, Amphetamines (Amphetamine) - 0.5 ng/mg, Marijuana - 0.005 ng/mg, Opiates (Morphine) - 0.2 ng/mg, Phencyclidine (Phencyclidine) - 0.3 ng/mg.

Saliva Drug Tests:
More recent drug use can be detected by saliva drug tests. These are more expensive than urine tests and less expensive than hair tests. They are easy to use and the chances of adulteration are very less. Detection period of saliva tests is not known for some drugs. However, methamphetamine and PCP can be detected for 1-3 days.

The cutoff concentrations for the above mentioned drugs using saliva tests are Cocaine - 20 ng/ml, Amphetamines (d-Amphetamine) - 50 ng/ml, Marijuana (THC-COOH) - 12 ng/ml, Opiates (Morphine) - 40 ng/ml, Phencyclidine (Phencyclidine) - 10 ng/ml.

Whatever the test may be, the cut-off concentration is a crucial parameter to detect the presence of drugs in order to provide accurate results.

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Commonly Abused Drugs and Their Effects on Health (Drugteststrips)

Drug abuse is one of the major public health issues affecting the lives of millions of people worldwide. According to a latest study published in the health journal, The Lancet 2012, around 200 million people across the world use illicit drugs every year. Use of illegal drugs is highest in developed countries.

Drug abuse is associated with wide range of physical and mental health consequences. Below mentioned are some commonly abused drugs and their effects on human health.

Tobacco:

Tobacco products such as cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars are widely used substances across the world. Tobacco contains Nicotine, a harmful drug that leads to addiction and other health issues.

Smoking tobacco leads to severe health risks like lung cancer, mouth cancer, high blood pressure, heart diseases, gum diseases, etc. It also reduces blood's ability to carry oxygen.

Alcohol:

Excessive consumption of alcohol results in serious health problems. Alcohol abuse affects every organ of the body - liver, heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys, etc. It also leads to mental health issues like depression, anxiety, impaired memory, etc.

Cannabinoids:

Cannabinoids are widely consumed illegal drugs especially by teenagers. There are two main categories of drugs in Cannabinoids - marijuana and hashish. According to the Monitoring the Future 2012 survey, 36.4% of 12th graders are using marijuana, which equates to around 11 students in an average class.

Cannabinoid abuse leads to lung damage, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and respiratory infections. It also leads to psychological issues like addiction, difficulty in thinking, anxiety, impaired memory, psychosis, etc.

Opioids:

Opioids include various drugs like heroin, opium, morphine, codeine and oxycontin. These drugs are depressant drugs and they affect the nervous system.

High doses of these drugs damage the heart, lungs, liver and brain, and also lead to depression, anxiety, nausea, etc.

Stimulants:

Stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine are very addictive drugs. Physical effects of these stimulant drugs are increased blood pressure and heart rate, weight loss, cardiac complications, stroke, nausea, fatigue, etc. Psychological effects include impaired decision-making and increased anxiety. Snorting of Cocaine causes nasal damage and methamphetamine also causes dental problems.

Club drugs:

Club drugs come in different types such as MDMA and GHB. These drugs are abused by teens and young adults at nightclubs, bars, rave parties.

The harmful effects of club drugs are impaired memory, muscle breakdown, kidney failure, loss of consciousness, drowsiness, nausea, high blood pressure, depression, decreased appetite.

Hallucinogens:

There are three kinds of hallucinogen drugs - LSD, psilocybin and mescaline. Hallucinogens impair the functioning of the brain, increases heart rate and blood pressure and lead to loss of coordination, appetite loss, memory loss, headaches, sweating, flashbacks, tremors and blurred vision to mention a few.

Above mentioned are just some of the illicit drugs, there are many more illegal drugs that are available in the market and are consumed by people. As an old saying, 'Prevention is better than cure', try to keep yourself away from these harmful drugs to lead a health life.

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Often victims of drug abuse and their effects on health (Drugteststrips)

Drug abuse is one of the major public health issues that affect the lives of millions of people in the world. According to a recent study published in the journal of health, The Lancet 2012, approximately 200 million people around the world use illicit drugs each year. Illicit drug use is higher than in developed countries.

Drug abuse is associated with a wide range of physical and mental health consequences. Listed below are commonly abused drugs and their effects on human health.

Tobacco:

Smoking such as cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco products are substances widely used around the world. Tobacco contains nicotine, a harmful drug that leads to addiction and other health problems.

Smoking tobacco leads to serious risks such as cancer of the lung, cancer of the mouth, high blood pressure, heart disease, gum disease, etc. It also reduces the ability of blood to carry oxygen.

Alcohol:

Excessive consumption of alcohol leads to serious health problems. Alcohol abuse affects all organs of the body - liver, heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys, etc. It also leads to problems of mental health such as depression, anxiety, memory disorders, etc.

Cannabinoids:

Cannabinoids are widely consumed illicit drug in particular adolescents. There are two main categories of drugs in cannabinoids - marijuana and hashish. According to the Observatory of the future 2012 survey, 36.4% grade students use marijuana, which is equivalent to about 11 students in a middle class.

Cannabinoid abuse leads to pulmonary injury increase heart rate and blood pressure, and respiratory infections. It also leads to psychological problems such as substance abuse, difficulty in thinking, anxiety, memory disorders, psychosis, etc.

Opioids:

Opioids include various drugs such as heroin, opium, morphine, codeine and oxycontin. These drugs are depressants, and they affect the nervous system.

High doses of these medicines damage the heart, lungs, liver and brain and also lead to depression, anxiety, nausea, etc.

Stimulants:

Stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine are very addictive drugs. The physical effects of such stimulants increased blood pressure and heart rhythm, loss of weight, cardiac complications, stroke, nausea, fatigue, etc. Psychological effects include anxiety of decision making and an increase in impaired driving. Snorting cocaine causes nasal damage and methamphetamine also causes dental problems.

Club drugs:

Club drugs come in different types, such as MDMA and GHB. These drugs are abused by teenagers and young adults in night clubs, bars, parties raves.

The harmful effects of club drugs are muscle degradation, loss of consciousness, drowsiness, nausea, hypertension, depression, memory impairment, loss of appetite, kidney failure.

Hallucinogens:

There are three kinds of hallucinogenic drugs - LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. Hallucinogens affect the functioning of the brain, increases the heart rate and blood pressure and lead to a loss of coordination, loss of appetite, memory loss, headaches, sweating, flashbacks, earthquakes and blurred vision to name a few.

Above are some of the illicit drugs, there is much more illegal drugs that are available on the market and are consumed by people. As an old saying, 'prevention is better than cure', try to keep away from these harmful drugs for a life of health.

Drug Test Strips is a boutique online offering reliable, easy to use and approved by the FDA Drug affordable kits. Our band of marijuana drug testing are testing rapid urine which can be done without the use of an instrument. Our cotinine test kit is a device used for the detection of cotinine in human urine.

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