Saliva drug tests have been a long time in creation. It took a lot of research and effort put in by specialists to get saliva drug tests perfected. The methods that are used for drug tests continue to advance as time goes on, and saliva drug tests are definitely a display of that. A saliva drug test holds a lot of advantages but the disadvantages seem to outweigh them phenomenally.

The biggest bonus with saliva drug tests is that unlike urine or blood tests, it is really easy to take a sample of. As well, it is really difficult for you to provide fake saliva, and the same may go for blood, but with urine tests, the chance of fake urine, or the ability to use someone else’s urine is out there so it is definitely something to watch for.

With urine drug tests, it is usually conducted in a private area or in an enclosed room or bathroom and there isn’t usually anyone monitoring you. While this is not always the case, for instance, various methadone clinics in Canada have video cameras in their bathroom to monitor the testers. But with the majority of urine tests, the person getting tested usually has the opportunity to pull a trick and provide a sample of fake urine or someone else’s urine as previously mentioned. This is definitely the biggest issue with urine tests, but to evade someone’s privacy would be going too far, so there isn’t really any way around it.

Back to saliva drug tests, the fact that it is so simple to collect a saliva sample, without the person being tested having to move away from you, the chance of getting tricked is a lot less likely. The tester will collect a sample of your saliva with a brush that is similar to a toothbrush which is placed in between the lower portion of your cheek and gum for a few minutes. – a noticeable amount of saliva will absorb onto the collecting device.

Besides the simplicity of saliva drug tests, there are other benefits that it will hold in comparison to the other types of drug tests. The other main advantage would be that if you are using an instant testing kit that the results will be presented to you almost instantly and you don’t have to go through the pain of sending the sample to a laboratory for further review and waiting months for the results to be sent to you. In comparison to other testing methods, blood tests will require a professional in the health care field to collect a sample, and getting a blood sample reviewed in a laboratory can be rather costly.

One of the main disadvantages to saliva drug tests would be that it can’t be used to try and look back for drug use a little while ago. The majority of drugs will only have residue in your saliva for 18-24 hours after your last use. Therefore, saliva drug tests can only be used efficiently to check if a person is using drugs during that day really, and it would be okay if you were suspicious of an employee’s activity.

As the person getting tested, there is no reason for you to invest money into detoxification products because of the fact that after a day, the residue will be gone anyways – in most cases.

As the tester, you are better off getting a urine drug test or hair drug test done on the person getting tested as both hold up fairly strong accuracy, timely results (in most cases), and can date back results a lot further. In the more extreme cases, a hair drug test can go back as far as 3-4 months or more and a urine test could date back as far as a month, but usually 7-10 days.

The best use of saliva drug tests would definitely be to use on truck drivers who have to get their load weighed in at certain areas. Having a surprise drug test on spot would help so it can be determined if the driver is impaired or is okay to drive without any issues. Driving hours on end as a living can be boring, and some people may refer to drug use to pass the time, and with this happening, they are risking the safety of themselves and the other people on the road.

Another good use for saliva drug tests would be to test people who were part of an accident on the job or a car crash to determine if drugs were the reason that the event occurred or if it was just fate or irresponsibility.

For the particular cases just mentioned, there is no other better method of finding out if the person was under the influence of drugs or not, so saliva drug tests definitely do have a lot of strength behind them.

As well, saliva drug tests are capable of finding up to 8 different types of drugs in your body but are usually set up to find 5 or 6 different types of drugs at once. Saliva drug tests are completely accurate and reliable so there probably a lot of people asking why they are not more common.

It is very likely that in a few years, saliva drug tests will become the normal. Look at breath analyzers for alcohol. Instead of getting a blood test to determine the blood alcohol level, it is detected by your breath. Saliva drug tests can take over the cases in which there is not a need for a complex drug use history report, but rather if drugs have been used really recently. With all the advantages that saliva drug tests hold, it will not be a shock if saliva drug tests became routine when going through the airport, getting pulled over by cops, or even buying alcohol – as mixing certain drugs with alcohol can be deadly.