Home testing kits are helping parents of addicts detect proof of substance abuse

Pat Nichols doesn't worry much about privacy. He's focused on getting teenagers help.

"When it comes to drugs or alcohol, I'm not concerned about whether the parent gets permission to search their room or take hair samples or anything,” said Nichols, co-founder with his wife of Parents Helping Parents, a group for parents of addicts.

"The important thing is to get the information necessary to get answers and move forward.”

Getting those answers may be a little easier now. Home drug-testing products are available in stores and online, including newer kits that don't rely on body fluids and can detect evidence of prescription painkiller abuse.

How one test works

"Our hair test is a very popular product,” said Zeynep Ilgaz, president of California-based Confirm Biosciences. "You don't have to handle urine. It's just basically a lock of hair. After the test is done, you can tell if the person is a recreational user or a high-end user.”

Ilgaz's newest product, HairConfirm, costs about $90.

Customers collect a hair sample and mail it back to the lab for testing.

Drug history — including use of amphetamines, cocaine, opiates, PCP and marijuana — can be traced as far back as 90 days, and additional tests are done to identify use of prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Lortab and Dilaudid.

Ilgaz recommends snipping hair from as close to the scalp as possible, providing a record of recent drug activity as well as longer- term abuse.

But any hair can be tested, regardless of how it is obtained.

Page 1 of 2

1 2 Next