Home Drug Test Kits for Teen Drug Abuse and Teen Alcohol Abuse

The world of home drug testing kits and over the counter home drug test kits, full of new information and unfamiliar terminology can seem overwhelming. What are home drug test kits and are the effective?

We hope you find the information on home Urine Drug Test Kits, Saliva Drug Test Kits, Hair Follicle Drug Test Kits and Alcohol Breath Test Kits helpful.

As a concerned parent, the thought of having an adolescent or teenage child using illegal drugs or alcohol can be overwhelming. National Youth Network is dedicated to keeping parents informed about the latest in home drug testing information and home drug testing products available. Many parents wishing to know the truth about their teens and drugs have asked us about reliable home drug testing kits. We have sorted through the pros and cons and included them here in an accessible, easy-to-understand format. We hope the information you find here will help you to choose the right home drug test for you and your child.

Listed below are some of the more popular and effective home drug test kits for detecting the presence of illegal drugs or alcohol in the blood system.

In an effort to reduce costs for our visitors, the home drug test kits available through the National Youth Network website are typically priced at least 50% less than comparable home drug test kits available at Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and CVS.

If your child needs immediate treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, contact us for objective professional assistance.

Urine Drug Test Kits

Summary:

The urine drug testing method is relied on by many families because of its reliability and ease of use. But what is it about urine drug testing that may make it the appropriate method for you? More importantly, what are some of the less desirable aspects of these urine drug testing kits?

While urine drug test kits are considered very accurate, provide quick results that are easy to read and do not require a laboratory, they can be manipulated to consolidate fake results. If you are a parent looking to enforce random drug testing of your child, urine sample drug testing may be the best choice for you because the test kits are cost effective, have a long shelf and are the fastest, most convenient way to test your child. You can opt to purchase our urine drug test kits with or without gloves and a sample cup, depending on your needs.

Pros, Cons & Recommendations:

Pros: The results of home urine drug tests are accurate and reliable, as they are based on a mature technology and have an extensive scientific base. The cost of urine drug testing kits is lower than other types of test kits (cup based drug test kits cost more than cassette and dip drug test kits). Results are almost instantaneous and there is no need for a lab or technician to conduct the drug tests. Their convenience is amplified when gloves and sterile cups are included with the kits. These drug tests kits are easy to store and have a long shelf life. They detect up to 12 different drugs depending on your choice of test.

Cons: Depending on the person and the substance used, there is usually only a 3 day window of detection, sometimes less. Urine drug test kits are easier to contaminate or falsify than other drug test kits (cup test kits are harder to manipulate and more dependable in that regard). Bathroom facilities are required to conduct the tests and cannot always be monitored successfully if you are not physically present when the urine sample is taken.

Comments & Recommendations: If you do somewhat frequent random drug testing, at home, these drug tests are great since they are affordable, accurate and easy to administer. For convenience, we would recommend getting the premium full sets that come with the gloves and cups. If you are concerned about possible contamination, we would recommend you use cup based home drug test kits that have add-on adulteration detection.

Recommended Home Urine Drug Test Kits

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Saliva Drug Test Kits

Summary:

If you are most concerned with drug use within your home, saliva drug tests may be the best choice for you.

While saliva drug test kits are easy-to-use, provide immediate results and are difficult to adulterate, they have a limited detection window of a day or two, and can be inconclusive should your child smoke or produce saliva at a fast rate. Oral drug testing is best used by parents who want to test their children immediately for drug use. It is best to conduct random saliva drug testing at unexpected times. Test your teen as soon as they get home from a party or test once a month at a different time each month. Randomness is the key to detecting drug use and weeding out adulterated or inconclusive results.

Pros, Cons & Recommendations:

Pros: Saliva (Oral) drug test kits are very donor friendly, non-invasive, and it is easier to collect a specimen. Samples can be collected easily in virtually any environment. There is no need for a bathroom to administer the tests, so they can be monitored more closely. These are great tests to detect very recent drug use. These drug tests are also harder to adulterate than urine drug tests since the sample can be obtained under direct supervision. Results can be read in minutes and there is no need for lab analysis. Depending on the test you use, up to 8 (5 or 6 at a time) different drugs can be detected. This method is the best method for determining current/immediate use and impairment.

Cons: The main disadvantage of saliva based drug test kits are their detection window. Depending on the rate of saliva production and/or the type/density of the drug used, the detection window can range from just a few hours to at most 2-3 days. Moreover, smoked drugs could cause contamination of saliva and inconclusive results.

Comments & Recommendations: Saliva drug testing kits are very easy to administer and donor friendly, so they make great drug tests to be used as random drug testing or reasonable suspicion drug testing. If you suspect that your teenager is using drugs, these tests would be ideal to administer right after they come back home after a night out or the following morning.

Recommended Home Saliva Drug Test Kits

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Hair Follicle Drug Test Kits

Summary:

Performing drug testing in your home can seem invasive and unpleasant, but in your situation, it may be necessary. Hair drug testing helps to take the privacy-invasion out of random drug testing, allowing parents to learn the truth about drug use in their homes.

While hair home drug testing kits provide accurate results, detecting drug use for up to 90 (30 days for every half inch of hair) days after use has occurred and are very difficult to adulterate. Hair drug tests are also quite expensive and require lab analysis, the results of which may take a few days to receive. If you are a concerned parent and are unsure of when drug use may have occurred, using a hair follicle drug testing kit can provide the answers you need about your teen’s lifestyle choices. A small sample of hair is all that’s needed for the lab to detect drug use for up to 3 month’s time!

Pros & Cons & Recommendations:

Pros: Hair drug test kits have a very long drug detection window. For most drugs, it can detect use going back about 90 days or more. These are very donor friendly drug testing kits that are easy to collect or store. Adulteration is a lot more difficult in hair drug testing than any other test method, as surface treatments do not reach the cortex of the hair. You can detect about 6 different drugs with this method. The test is extremely dependable and accurate.

Cons: The main disadvantage of hair drug testing is the fact that you need a lab to run the test and generate the results, so immediate readings are not possible. This extra step means that it will take a few additional days to obtain your results. Another

disadvantage of the hair drug test is the fact that it might not detect very recent drug use because the hair may not have had a chance to grow. Hair drug test kits are usually the most expensive drug test kits due to the lab testing requirement.

Comments & Recommendations: If you have suspicion of drug use but can not be sure of the timing then hair drug testing may be the best method for testing your child.

Recommended At Home Hair Follicle Drug Test Kits

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Alcohol Breath Test Kits - Breathalyzer

Summary:

Unlike urine tests, breath-alcohol tests do detect and measure current alcohol levels. The subject blows into a breath-alcohol test device called a breathalyzer and the results are given as a number, known as the Blood Alcohol Concentration, which shows the level of alcohol in the blood at the time the test was taken. An alcohol breath test, breathalyzer, is the most common test performed by law enforcement officers and measures blood alcohol in the breath by having you breathe into an alcohol detection device, a breathalyzer.  Alcohol breath test kits are available as single test detectors, which can detect blood alcohol concentrations from .02% - .08% BAC. Digital breath test kits are also available and are reusable. These digital devices are more accurate than the disposable variety but are considerably more expensive than single use detectors, breathalyzers.

Pros & Cons & Recommendations:

Pros: Alcohol breath test kits and breathalyzers are reasonably accurate for home alcohol consumption testing to enforce zero tolerance with alcohol issues. These devices are inexpensive, easy to use and easy to understand the results. These are great for testing teens on the spot when returning from a party or a friend’s house. Many parents find alcohol breath test kits or breathalyzers, the easiest to administer and will communicate to their teenagers that they will indeed be given a “Breath Test” or Breathalyzer upon returning home from a night out.

Cons: Alcohol breath tests are highly inaccurate because it assumes your breath comes from the lungs, but it may actually measure alcohol residue in the mouth, esophagus, or digestive system.  Also, burping, using mouthwash, breath spray, or eating a breath mint can all lead to inaccurate results.  This test is not saved and so cannot be analyzed after the fact.  The breath test only measures the presence of alcohol in the system. They can result in false BAC readings caused from cell phones, police radios, electrical interference, moisture, dirt, and tobacco smoke.  They can result in false BAC readings from substances or compounds found in gasoline, paint removers, cleaning fluids, celluloid, and lacquers.

Comments & Recommendations: If you have teenage drivers in the house and suspect them of drinking alcohol, an alcohol breath tester or breathalyzer is a must in our opinion. Many parents include using an “Alcohol Breath Test” as an item used to enforce “Zero Tolerance”. Parents also use the breathalyzer as part of their Behavioral Contract for Driving Agreement with their teenager.

Recommended At Home Alcohol Breath Test Kits - Breathalyzer

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