The military uses urinalysis drug testing to ensure that soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen aren’t under the influence of illegal drugs.There’s quite a bit of mystery surrounding the drug testing process. In this article, we take a look at seven secrets of military drug tests.

1. Different drugs stay in your system for different lengths of time

Many people believe that drugs stay in your system for weeks. This simply isn’t true. The table below shows the certified drug detection windows (the length of time the drug stays in your system) for military testing equipment:

Drug	Detection Window
THC (Marijuana)	3-5 days
Cocaine	2-4 days
Amphetamines, Methamphetamines, Ecstasy	3 days
Barbituates	1-2 days
Opiates	1-2 days
PCP	5-7 days
LSD	1-2 days
Steroids	3+ days

2. Military drug tests use thresholds

You won’t get booted out of the military because you walked past someone in the dorm smoking a joint. The military testing labs use thresholds to rule out accidental exposure and testing errors. The standards used by the military are:

Drug	Screening Threshold (ng/ml)	Confirmation Threshold (ng/ml)
THC (marijuana)	50	15
Cocaine	150	100
Morphine	2000	4000
Codeine	2000	2000
Heroin	300	10
Amphetamines, Methamphetamines, Ecstasy	500	500
Barbituates	200	200
PCP	25	25
LSD	0.5	0.2

3. Samples are tested, retested and tested again

The drug testing lab first performs a preliminary screening test on all samples using an Olympus AU-800 Automated Chemistry Analyzer. All negative specimens are discarded after this round. Any urine sample that shows a positive indication of drug use is retested using the same equipment. If that sample also provides a positive result, the lab uses gas chromatography to identify the specific drug in the urine sample. The lab reports a positive result only if all three samples test positive.
What does all that mean? Basically, there’s little chance they’re going to make a mistake.

4. Drug test results aren’t really final

The military drug testing system is designed to be equitable and ensure drug abusers are brought to justice. However, that sometimes doesn’t happen. Several stories in recent years uncovered questionable recruiting practices including the use of “prescreening” exams by recruiters to ensure recruits are completely clean before passing them on for their official test.

5. The commander has a lot of discretion

Quite a bit of detail about the drug testing program is at the unit commander’s discretion. Basically, the commander can direct that any servicemember submit to a drug test at any time, for any reason. DOD regulations require commanders to test at least 10% of their unit every month and conduct at least one annual sweep of the entire unit.

6. Steroid testing isn’t automatic

Contrary to popular belief, the military does not routinely test for steroids. Why? It’s too expensive. Commanders may only order steroid tests under special circumstances and must obtain prior permission. Samples requiring steroid testing bypass the normal military testing system and get shipped to the sports testing lab at UCLA for analysis.

7. Drug testing in the military is humiliating

When you give your sample, you must be directly observed by an NCO or warrant officer of your same gender. Don’t think that sounds so bad? The training manual for observers states that they “must watch the urine leave the body and enter the bottle”. Here’s one soldier’s experience with the process.

Posted in Fitness |