How accurate are drug tests? Is there a possibility a test could give a false positive?
• Screening tests are very accurate but not 100 percent accurate, so every positive screen should be followed by a laboratory-based test to confirm (or refute) the results. Other sectors of society face this same issue and Federal guidelines are in place to ensure accuracy and fairness in drug testing programs.
Tests are very accurate but not 100 percent accurate. Usually samples are divided so if an initial test is positive a confirmation test can be conducted. Federal guidelines are in place to ensure accuracy and fairness in drug testing programs. Can students “beat” the tests? Many drug-using students are aware of techniques that supposedly detoxify their systems or mask their drug use. Popular magazines and Internet sites give advice on how to dilute urine samples, and there are even companies that sell clean urine or products designed to distort test results. A number of techniques and products are focused on urine tests for marijuana, but masking products increasingly are becoming available for tests of hair, oral fluids, and multiple drugs. Most of these products do not work, are very costly, are easily identified in the testing process and need to be on hand constantly, because of the very nature of random testing.
