The three most common causes of teenage deaths are accidents, suicides, and homicides. Most of these have been found to be drug-related, which brings up the issue of drug use in teenagers. This has caught the attention of both local and international bodies, with statistics showing that 40 percent of teenagers that are involved in underage drinking develop alcohol dependence later in life. At the end of the day, parents need to find a way to detect drug use in their teens as a first step towards successful resolution.
Consumer Drug Testing Methods
One way to discover whether your teenage son or daughter is abusing drugs is to use consumer testing kits. These are easy to obtain and require no previous experience. There are three types of testing kits that you can use:
Urine Testing Kit
This is the most common method that you can use on your teenager. It is suitable for use in your home and has been previously used in law enforcement and the corporate world.
These tests can detect drugs in the system for up to three days, at times up to 30 days. The test can help you identify drugs of which you don’t know the exact date of intake. The test checks for all drug types at once but can also check for a single drug.
The kit is simple to use. However, you need to stay close to the teenager during testing to prevent adulteration of the sample. It is recommended that you use random testing methods to get best results.
Saliva Drug Testing
This is suitable for use within hours of drug consumption. The kit can detect several drugs. All you need to do is place the spoon collector in the mouth of the teenager and then place it in the testing device. You will get results after just a few minutes.
The test is easy to use, non-invasive and provides fast and accurate results. However, the test can be adulterated in case the teenager smoked or chewed gum immediately after abusing the drug.
Saliva drug testing is suitable if you suspect your teenage son or daughter for having taken the drug recently, most preferably within 48 hours.
Hair Drug Tests
These represent the most accurate drug tests on the market. This is because they are not easy to adulterate. The test makes use of the core of the hair, which you can get without raising any suspicion. You can use the test to identify possible drug use for up to 90 days. However, you cannot test for drug use of 7 days and less. It also requires that you take a sample for testing in a professional lab.
In Summary
Once you discover that your teenager is on drugs, you need to move fast to resolve it before it gets out of hand. Working with a professional is helpful because the expert understands why drug addiction occurs and the best solution.