Saliva Swab Drug Test

As I have mentioned above, saliva drug test is now becoming a common scenario in most places. It has effectively replaced drug tests that involved blood or urine. Firstly, saliva test is cost-effective and not invasive. It does not involve the use of any kind of needles thus, no risks of infection. Also, the subject can save himself/herself from the embarrassment of urinating in front of the witness. So considering all these advantages, the test is a good option to go for. However, the technique does have its own share of drawbacks which may keep it from being conducted in certain settings.

Important Facts About Saliva Drug Test

• The basic aspect of the test is the capability of the saliva to store the information of the drugs used up to a period of 24 - 36 hours. Although the information would be in the form of trace amounts, it is enough for reaching to a certain conclusion.
• Depending upon the situations and the subjects involved, there are a number of saliva drug test kits available on the market. If you are some who wishes to conduct a test in your kids to detect drug use, then you can get yourself a home kit. Likewise, there are professional kits too, which play a major role in cases involving the law and order.

The Pros and Cons

Advantages	Disadvantages
The cost-effectiveness of the saliva drug test is its main advantage. It is a lot cheaper than blood tests or hair follicle tests. This is due to the lack of any specialized tools.	The main drawback of the test is associated with its vulnerability to contain pathogenic micro-organisms. So care is required while handling it.
All it takes is a period of 5 - 15 minutes, for the results to come, unlike the other blood tests.To repeat what has been mentioned already, the procedure requires no washroom, nor the requirement of any invasive tools which carry the risk of infection, as in a blood test.	Although the saliva can store trace amounts of drugs for 24 - 36 hours, most drugs do not live that long on the saliva for more than 12 - 24 hours. This makes the process a handicap when dealing with testing recent drugs use.
Most importantly, the saliva is obtained right under the nose of a supervisor. So there is no way that the subject would plot any sort of adulteration in his sample.	If the drugs come from the class of Methamphetamine and Opiates, then this test is reliable, but not for THC and Cannabinoids
One important mouth swab drug test fact is that it is good enough to test 5 - 6 types of drugs at a time.	Although it is cheaper than a blood test, it incurs more expense than a urine test.
Given to its ease of use at any location, with the least number of tools, and also the ability to give fast results, the saliva drug test is most popular with pre-employment drug testing and random drug testing in the workplace.	When compared to hair follicle drug testing, this test do not stand out so effective after all. The former, apart from detecting drug use, also gives information regarding the frequency of the use and the quantity of the drug.
One important fact to be known is, as the process does not require any special set up, it saves a lot of time, when compared to other tests.	Another downside of this test is its vulnerability to be bypassed easily. Eating certain foods or even smoking can mask the trace amounts of drugs present in the saliva thus, resulting in a negative report. If someone remains 'clean' for 2 - 3 days, then he/she can easily have a negative report.

So you see that there are different advantages and disadvantages of saliva swab drug test. That is the reason why the test does not fit the bill for every kind of setting or situation. In order to get the maximum benefits of it, it should be used at the right place and at the right time.