# Drug Tests and "Drug Virgins" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515 "2011-02-07T14:40:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/1 "2011-02-07T14:40:13Z")
I got hired on Saturday, and I am going in for my first day of work in about an hour. I am fairly certain that the company I will work for will give me a drug test. Not that I am worried about it, just the opposite. However, It got me thinking. \*\*Can a drug test reveal if a system has NEVER been introduced to illegal substances? \*\*That is, will the drug test report [truthfully] that I am a drug “virgin”, for lack of better words? I’ve never even had as much as a drag on a cigarette, granted that nicotine / tobacco are not considered in the same realm as “drugs”, but will a test reveal this, and the virginity there as well? Oh, but yeah, I had two beers last night. My excuse was, it was the Super Bowl. Yeah, gonna go with that. [Not worried about this in the least.] ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/2 "2011-02-07T14:55:06Z")
Alcohol is a drug. It’s just legal. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/3 "2011-02-07T18:31:22Z")
No. I work at a firm that does drug urinalysis, and almost all drugs and their metabolites have exited the body within two weeks. The only exception is with heavy users and the very obese, because some drugs will deposit in body fat. Even then you won’t find sufficient amount of drugs in the system after two months. I’ve been told hair testing (which we don’t perform) has longer windows of detection but certainly can’t find drug use several years prior. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/4 "2011-02-07T19:18:05Z")
They only potentially find what they are looking for. They are looking for evidence of specific drugs. All they will be able to tell is if you have X, Y or Z in your system. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/5 "2011-02-07T20:16:51Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > I’ve never even had as much as a drag on a cigarette, granted that nicotine / tobacco are not considered in the same realm as “drugs”, but will a test reveal this, and the virginity there as well? FWIW, just because you’ve never touched a cigarette doesn’t mean you’ve never inhaled tobacco smoke. I suspect that you probably wouldn’t inhale enough marijuana smoke second-hand to trigger a failed drug test, but it’s certainly possible. Congrats on the new job! ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/6 "2011-02-08T00:20:04Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > FWIW, just because you’ve never touched a cigarette doesn’t mean you’ve never inhaled tobacco smoke. I suspect that you probably wouldn’t inhale enough marijuana smoke second-hand to trigger a failed drug test, but it’s certainly possible. > > Congrats on the new job! Thanks. I will be a cashier at a supermarket. However, in this economy, I’m taking it. The test indeed was today, and there was little else for me to do. **Slight Hijack :** I held a stick in my mouth for two minutes, next to my cheek. What was the deal here? I was asked if I had anything in my mouth for the past 10 minutes. How can a test like this be reliable if they have to ask? Why did it taste salty the moment after I took it out? ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/7 "2011-02-08T02:02:29Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Thanks. I will be a cashier at a supermarket. However, in this economy, I’m taking it. > > The test indeed was today, and there was little else for me to do. > > **Slight Hijack :** > > I held a stick in my mouth for two minutes, next to my cheek. What was the deal here? > > I was asked if I had anything in my mouth for the past 10 minutes. How can a test like this be reliable if they have to ask? > > Why did it taste salty the moment after I took it out? the same reason cops ask to search your car. stupid people who have drugs will sometimes confess/allow it because they think they have to. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/8 "2011-02-08T08:41:56Z")
They gave you a [saliva](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_test#Saliva_drug_screen_.2F_Oral_fluid-based_drug_screen) test. No idea why it tasted salty afterward. I loathe drug tests. I’ve always passed mine just fine, but it feels like Guilty Until Proven Innocent every time. And of course just because one can clean up for a drug test doesn’t mean they can be high as balls on the job later. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/9 "2011-02-08T19:17:39Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > I loathe drug tests. I’ve always passed mine just fine, but it feels like Guilty Until Proven Innocent every time. And of course just because one can clean up for a drug test doesn’t mean they can be high as balls on the job later. I don’t hate the tests anywhere near as much as I do the irresponsible assholes who do drugs and make the testing necessary in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/10 "2011-02-08T20:19:44Z")
Excuse the hijack, but are drug tests commonplace for a job as a cashier? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/11 "2011-02-08T20:56:38Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I don’t hate the tests anywhere near as much as I do the irresponsible assholes who do drugs and make the testing necessary in the first place. You’re saying that if it weren’t for those drug users who are irresponsible assholes, the rest of us could do drugs in peace? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/12 "2011-02-09T01:54:25Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Excuse the hijack, but are drug tests commonplace for a job as a cashier? Considering that Walmart, who has over a million employees at any given time, does pre-hire drug testing, yes. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-tests-and-drug-virgins/570515/13 "2011-02-09T03:01:04Z")
The longest a urine test will detect drugs is in the order of a week or so, and that is only for marijuana. Other more dangerous drugs will leave generally be undetectable much sooner than that. So, actually, the law of unintended consequences kicks in and means actually the prevalence of drug testing is actually encouraging people to take harder drugs. Hair analysis will detect drug use further back than that (30-90 days) depending, of course, on how long your hair is. There is absolutely no test that will detect drug ‘virginity’. Except (possibly depending on how reliable you consider them) lie detector tests.