Urine Drug Screening

The first step to assessing whether someone has a drug in their system is often a urine drug screen. Drug screens can be performed to test drug use after a crash, to test whether prospective employees are drug users, as part of compliance in a drug program, to determine possible impairment after a workplace accident, and in other civil and criminal situations. Drugs of abuse typically tested are cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, phencyclidine, and morphine/opiates. Urine drug screening detects whether certain drug classes are present, but generally cannot distinguish individual drugs. So a test for morphine will also test positive for opiates, but not necessarily opioid medication. Advantages of urine drug screens are that they are inexpensive and non-invasive. Other urine drug panels may be used to detect additional drugs in one class, or additional classes of medication.