At home Drug Test

[bby31288]

Hi all, while I read on this board Teens and Substance abuse, I have never had to post. husband and I have reason to suspect that our easy child/17 may be smoking pot. Can you recommend any products for at home testing?

While cleaning her room I came across take the red out eye drops? She has no reason for these? Also she came home last week one day and looked stoned. We asked her but she denied. Well, I no longer want to wait to find out. We will spring it on her today sometime. Just wondering from your experiences if there is anyone certain test that works.

Beth

 

[mom_in_training]

First check its called. You can buy this kit at Wal-mart for about $20.00 to just test for marijuana. I have links and will post them when I find them to the web-site

 

[mom_in_training]

Here it is.....

You can buy the drug test's at Wal-Mart. They have one that will test specifically for Marijuana and also a 4 panel that will test for Marijuana, Meth, Cocaine, and Heroin (Opiates). The price's start out at about $15.00 to $30.00. The brand they sell is First Check. I have alway's opted to at the least do the 4 panel test for my difficult child and the last time(A couple week's ago) went with the 7 panel. The 7 panel will test for Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin (Opiates), Meth, Ecstsy, Amphetamines, Phencyclidine (Pcp). The web-site is
www.firstcheckfamily.com

 

[bby31288]

Well we didn't need it. We told her we were going to do the test and she admitted it. She tried to pull the whole its just a teenager thing. I can't tell you all how truely disappointed in her I am.

As of now we punished her for two weeks, no phone, no friends. To school, work, cheer practice and home. After two weeks we told her will be doing frequent urine tests, surprise ones.

She said she didn't do it that frequently, but honestly I don't know what to believe.

Any advice from anyone whose been there been that....

 

[Big Bad Kitty]

Let me arm you with some knowledge (not that you need to share it with her)

Pot stays in your system for a LONG time. I've heard 8 weeks; in my case (I am heavy) it stayed in my system almost 4 months. The fact that she sang with just your threat is good. It's also a pretty good bet that if she is using again, you will catch it. You seem to know the signs very well. Good idea to keep the test on hand so you could spring it on her any second.

Thing is, if it is just pot, it very well may be "just a teen thing". When I was her age, I swore it was just a teen thing. It was just a teen thing for all my friends. I wanted it to be just a teen thing for me too. It ended up being way worse than that for me. So you are smart to keep an eye on her. You know your kid.

Best of luck to you. One last bit of advice, she is so very close to 18...resist the urge to try and teach her everything you feel she should know between now & her 18th b-day. Give her a little room to breathe.

 

[mom_in_training]

Marijuana (THC)can be detected within two hours and remain in your system for up to 40days. I did random drug testing with my difficult child and when she did test positive I would ground her from friends, Phone, Her horses, You name it and was a thorn in her side. I let her know that I was savy to anything and everything she was doing to include her friends and would follow up with her friends parents as well to give them heads up on what their children could very well be doing too. I took her to and from school as well. I gave her no room at all and informed her that I was looking into drug rehabs to be prepared and would have no problem placing her. I also did random searches of her room. She did not like that but hey she lives under my roof and I believe I am entitled to know if there are drugs in my home. I passworded the computer's that I have alway's kept in the front living room area of the house. I would never allow her to have one in her room, Anytime I see her in a stranger's car or hanging with kid's around here that I have known to use drug's, I'll give her warning to get home or I call the police (And I did just that with no hesitation!!). It worked out to be a deterant, the majority of these druggy kid's don't want to hang out with my difficult child because her crazey mom will call the cop's. Lol!! Hey you use what work's huh? Lol!! Marijuana is a gateway drug this is why I opted for the 4 and 7 panal drug testing kits because you just never know what your difficult children are truly up to at times. They can be very creative and sneaky when they are on drugs. There have been some parents here at CD that have been there done that. I can tell you that it was quite a task trying to keep up with her but never stopped. Here are some resources that came with the drug testing kits.

Also here are some other web-site's that are listed with the kit's.

NotMykid - www.notmykid.org (602) 652-0163

Al-Anon Family Groups, Inc - www.al-anon.alateen.org (888) 425-2666

Families Anonymous, Inc - www.familiesanonymous.org (800) 736-9805

Marijuana Anonymous - www.marijuana-anonymous.org (800)766-6779

 

[standswithcourage]

I agree. Keep testing her. Pot stays in your system 30 days. It may even stay longer - it just depends on the person and the amount. Keep tabs on her. Pot was the first thing my difficult child did but not the last. I think it is the gateway drug! However since she is almost 18 she will want you to believe her - so dont hover - give her room - but continue to test her anyway. thats all I know but i have been there done that!

 

[bby31288]

I think its a good idea to continue to test her, but my question is, if she can test positive for up to 30 or 40 days, how do I know if she has truly stopped? because it will eventually come up negative?

husband called her in and went thru her pocket book, he told her he was checking for anything including other drugs. We then went thru her room. I am contemplating informing her friends parents.

Thanks all for your advice and your been there done that. I appreciate all there information you have.

I have to say, I'm really scared for her. If its not one kid, its another!!

 

[Big Bad Kitty]

Play on ignorance.

Tell her that you have a test that not only tells you what she has taken, but how long ago she took it. You scared her into admitting she used by telling her you would test her. You could scare her into being honest by bluffing that your test is more accurate than it is.

If that fails, tell her that you will be taking her to the doctor for a series of cumulative drug tests, this really does exist, it does not show when she used last but it shows the level going down if she never used again, and it shows the level going up if she continues. Tell her that if it is positive, she will have to pay for it.

Get creative!

 

[Mikey]

Hi Beth. re: At home drug testing....

As others here have said, there are kits you can buy from various places that will tell you if any tested substances are present. However, what they will NOT tell you is the levels of the substance present. All of the OTC tests I tried with McWeedy also had the disclaimer that they showed "Negative", and "Possible Positive".

Since THC and other substances stay in your system a while, you do have a problem with knowing if your child has done anything recently. What you need to know are the levels of the substance in the urine sample. Most OTC companies can give you this info as well, but you have to send in the urine sample to their labs. The kits usually have a coded index card, sticker, whatever, that you attach to the sample (for anonymity), and you call in a week later, punch in the ID code for the kit you sent in, and you get the actual numbers back.

What you want to see is the numbers going down. That's a good sign that your child has stopped using. Be sure and read the kits before you buy them. Some of them will do the lab tests for free (just send them in), and some will charge extra.

Also, be careful and follow the directions EXACTLY. I messed up two tests before I realized what I was doing wrong. Caused all sorts of problems with my little WeedWhacker (not that he didn't deserve them for other things, though ).

Finally, be warned that there are several "beat the test" websites and solutions out there on the web. Everything from special "smoothies" sold at your local smoothie mart to desperate kids drinking a diluted mixture of water and bleach to throw off the test. The most common, though, is if a kid knows he/she's about to be tested is to drink a ton of water to dilute the sample. Professional drug testing companies test for diluted samples, but some OTC kits may not pick up on this (unless you send in the sample to their labs).

One other avenue would be to talk to your family doctor, and have the drug tests administered through them. This always seemed to work better for us, and we were also lucky enough to have our medical insurance help with the costs.

Hope this helps. Ultimately, OTC testing did nothing for us, and told us nothing that we didn't already know. Testing at the doctor's office was more accurate, but still only confirmed what we knew - by that time, McWeedy was beyond denying his actions, and had graduated to daring us to do something about it.

But that's just us. I know other parents that swear it keeps their kids on the straight and narrow, but I've also read about some kids who are so scared of getting caught they do really stupid things to "beat the test". In the end, it's a judgment call about whether you get what you really want out of the tests. There's no right answer, only the one that works for you.

Best of luck for you and your daughter. We'll be praying for you.

Mikey

 

[mom_in_training]

Good points Mikey, I beleive First Check still offers up the levels for free. Pay the postage to send the sample in the box that they provide then followup with a call entering your special id code. My way of preventing washing was to just stay in the restroom when my difficult child was giving a sample. Just her knowing that I was all set for random testing was a deterant for her and that lasted for quite a while. Whew.... I also knew that she had no money to go buy the antidotes to hide her drug use at least in her urine samples anyway. Oh and nice to see ya Mikey.