Whether you were at a party where pot was smoked, or you used methamphetamine to help you study through the night, you have been exposed to drugs and the worst thing that could happen is that you have to pass a drug test for work the next day.

How to get any trace of drugs out of your system, faster than the natural pace that your kidneys and liver do it, can depend on what type of drug you’ve been exposed to, and what type of drug test you will be taking. The chromatography column can detect these drugs if you do not properly clean them out of your system.

Detection Time

How long any drug stays in your system depends on the drug, how often you use, how much you use, as well as your own personal metabolism and fitness levels. However this table gives a general indication, and a more complete list can be found here

Types of Drug Tests

Hair

This is where a few strands of hair from your head are cut and examined in a laboratory. Usually they are looking for traces of specific illicit drugs: amphetamines, cannabis, opiates, cocaine or PCP. However, additional testing may also be requested for: extended opiates, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, methadone, propoxyphene, meperidine, tramadol, fentanyl, ketamine, buprenorphine, zolpidem or methcathinone.

Because traces of the drugs can be detectible for up to 3 months hair testing is popular in workplaces with a policy of no drug tolerance.

Blood

Although accurate, blood tests require specialist training to administer, so are not used in general drug testing situations.

Saliva

More technically called “oral fluid testing”, as this may also include nasal fluid or lung sputum as well as saliva, this test is able to detect drugs that have been eaten, snorted or swallowed. However, it is not as reliable as other forms of testing so is often only used a precursor to other test options.

Urine

“Pee in a cup” testing is also popular as it is relatively easy to administer and has been considered difficult to cheat on. There are two types of urine drug screening:

Immunoassay: cheap to administer, with quick results, but sometimes test results come back positive even though you haven’t used any drugs. Because of this if you do get a positive result it is a good idea to demand either a GC/MS test or another type of non-urine screening. An immunoassay test also doesn’tdetect opioid use.

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS): as this test is more expensive and requires a longer timeframe to get results it is usually done to confirm results rather than as an initial screen.

Neither test can detect if you have used drugs on the day the test is administered.  Also, both tests are susceptible to false negatives – where even if you have taken drugs the test comes back negative.

Getting Clean

No matter what the drug you’ve taken, or the drug screening you will be given, there are a few things that can help you detox your system faster so that you can pass a drug test.

1.      Hydrate. Drinking lots of water helps flush toxins from your system – but don’t go too overboard. Yes, you would need to drink gallons to get hyponatremia, but that would be anextreme length to do to in order to try and bet a drug test. 

2.      Sweat. Exercise, sauna or even a hot bath or spa can help you sweat those toxins out of your system. Again, don’t got overboard, make sure you stay hydrated. A mix of sweating it out, drinking water, and drinking sports drinks with electrolytes can help cleanse your blood, urine and saliva.

3.      Diet. If you’re eating well with a balanced diet you are more likely to have a strong and well-functioning body. Good nutrition means that your liver and kidneys (the organs responsible for detoxing your body) are working well and can flush any drugs out of your system a little faster than someone with poor nutrition and impaired organ function.

4.      Detox. There are a range of different products on the market to aid your body remove additional toxins from your body. These range from several times a day pills, to simple teas that include herbs like dandelion, milk thistle or red clover. If you are from United States call or visit New Jersey detox centers near you.

Hair

The most commonly recommended method of passing a hair sample drug test involves extensive hair washing, repeatedly, using specialist shampoo. There are rumours of using substances like bleach, but these rumours do not seem to have any follow up substance to them.

Blood

Blood tests tend to look for the drug rather than markers that indicate drug use – which is helpful because these markers are generally found in the system long after the actual compound consumed. In many cases passing a blood test simply requires not taking any drugs for 72 hours. Follow the hydrate, sweat method, and look at using a detox pill or drink. There are also detox diets that you can follow which tend to be high in fibre and natural antioxidants. 

Saliva

These tests usually aren’t able to detect any drug use from prior to seven days – so if you know you have one scheduled try to avoid using any substance for 10 days beforehand. There are also gums and mouthwashes on the market that claim to be able to neutralise any trace of drugs in your saliva almost immediately.

Urine

As with previous remarks, if you are given enough time, flushing your system of the drugs using a detox method becomes the easiest option. Other ideas include purchasing synthetic urine that is, obviously, free of any drugs.

If you search the internet you will find an endless resource for old wives’ tales and methods for passing a drug test that if they don’t actually lead to serious harm, certainly won’t remove drugs from your system.  Be safe out there and do your research.