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 |  |  | Some of the most common questions from parents who test their teens are listed below. Some of the greatest concerns are about how a teen can cheat or trick the test. We provide free with every kit a method to detect foreign bodies in the sample. Parents are often concerned about prescription medications, since they can cause positive results. The answers to these questions and more are below. |
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| How often should teens be tested? |
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We recommend that teens be tested at least once a month. That is why our program is set up to send parents multiple kits. To avoid becoming predictable and to help eliminate teen temptations to indulge between tests, we encourage parents to "mix it up" when it comes to picking the specific dates to administer their tests.
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| How can parents bring up the topic of drug testing without risking damage to their parent/child relationship and trust? |
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In some families, you can damage relationships by simply voting Republican… or Democrat, by rooting for the Cubs… or Yankees. The “silent treatment” can go on for years. Jeez… some people are sooooo touchy.
We encourage parents to talk to their kids, explain their concerns, establish rules and communicate the means by which the rules will be enforced (i.e. testing). It simply establishes the means by which trust is earned and maintained.
It should go without saying that any "damage" to a parent/child relationship brought on by merely discussing substance abuse testing programs, would be by comparison, a tiny fraction of the damage and destruction likely to be caused by actual substance abuse.
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| Got a model student? |
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| Got a troubled teen? |
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Consider the following approaches: |
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"There's something I want to talk with you about that is very important. Before we begin, I want you to know that I love you and that I am very proud of you. You're getting to the age where other kids, if they haven't already, are going to start exposing you to things like drugs, alcohol and tobacco. It's part of my job as a parent to make sure that you don't mess with those substances. Having been a teenager once myself, I know what kind of pressure friends can apply. So, I want to give you an excuse that will help you get rid of the pressure. All you have to do is tell them that you can't because your parents have home testing kits for those substances and that they test you regularly.
When you get older and apply for a job or want to join the military, you'll have to take drug and sometimes alcohol tests. You're at the age now where it's time we start doing them at home too.
If you've experimented with any of these substances, in the past, it's time to stop. There will be consequences you won't like if we detect future substance abuse and rewards if we don't. It's that simple."
For extremely volatile, irrational, and troubled teens, we encourage parents to seek counseling since substance abuse may be just one of many other significant problems. |
| Can my teen "trick" or “beat” the tests? |
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Using saliva-based tests...NO.
The element of surprise, when combined with proper procedure, eliminates most deception possibilities with the urine-based kits. Temperature strips on collection cups help ensure fresh samples. A clear cup design makes it easy to spot irregular substances. Adulteration strips are used to detect foreign substances commonly used to tamper with specimens.
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| What if a teen doesn't like the idea of being tested? |
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Teens aren't really fond of being grounded or having other privileges revoked either. Sometimes making unpopular decisions is part of being a good parent.
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| Isn't it hypocritical for parents to test their teens when they drank, smoked or did drugs during their own teenage years? |
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Parents shouldn't let mistakes they made as adolescents keep them from becoming responsible adults. The word "hypocrite" shouldn't stop adults from being good parents.
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| How long will evidence of drug abuse remain in a person’s system, and what variables affect results? |
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Duration times vary according to an individual’s metabolism, physical condition, frequency of usage, and hydration. However, for the average person, the following durations are considered reasonable. The “rule of thumb” for most drugs available on the street is 2-3 days. Marijuana can be detected for 8-12 days in a moderate user (3 times per week) and 21-30 days in a daily user. Testing for usage of alcohol and/or tobacco should be done as soon as possible. The window of detection for marijuana is limited to 12 hours using saliva-based test kits, so testing should usually take place on Saturday or Sunday mornings.
The biggest advantage of our hair testing services is that it can detect drug use during the previous 2-3 months. This is a very helpful option for parents who highly suspect their child has been using and want the peace of mind of knowing that months rather than days or weeks have gone by since drugs were last used ( if ever). The advantages of saliva and urine based tests become most apparent after a child has tested positive and has promised to quit using. Negative results on the saliva and urine based tests prove the absence of recent drug use (days and weeks) so children who claim to have quit using can actually prove that they have.
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| How accurate are the tests? |
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Our lovable lab geeks tell us that accuracy exceeds 99% for urine-based testing. Saliva tests are a bit less accurate than the urine-based tests, but still VERY close. If it makes you feel better, our kits are currently being used by businesses, medical clinics, and law enforcement officials across the country and they’re… uh… picky.
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| What about a low price guarantee? |
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What… and sound like Wal-Mart copycats? No thanks. Schools, police departments, coalitions and treatment centers can do good things with the free drug test kits we donate. We’re not willing to cut them out so a few misers can feel like they got a bigger bargain.
We do guarantee that you’ll get what you pay for and deals that sound “too good to be true” usually are. If you look long enough, you can probably find cheaper testing kits on the Internet and might even save a dollar. Using our kits costs about HALF of what local labs or clinics charge
Want your local school, police department, coalition or treatment center to receive thousands of dollars worth of free drug test kit vouchers? Tell them to go online and register in our alliance today (if they haven’t already). It takes less than five minutes for them to register online and costs nothing.
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| What's the biggest mistake parents sometimes make when they initiate a testing program? |
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Sometimes parents mistakenly treat the initial test like it's an accusation of guilt instead of the informational gathering process it is. It should be used as an "up-front" and "above-board" method of establishing, communicating and measuring parent/teen expectations. Like anything else in life, rewards and consequences should ideally be tied to whether or not expectations have been met AFTER the facts have been gathered.
Parents who initially take an accusatory tone, may find it hard to "undo" or "take back" what they said if their teen turns up to be free of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
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| What is the community discussion forum? |
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Our forum is where we encourage everyone to chat… give and get advice… and basically hang out. If you’ve got something to share or something to say… give it a whirl.
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| How do I use the forum? |
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First, you will need a computer with Internet access (No duh!). Then you need an account, which you can easily create or you can post anonymously. Finally, simply click on the forum and topic in question, and then click on Reply or Post. Feel free to let it rip, just keep it G to PG-13.
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| What is not allowed in the forum? |
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First, the usual disclaimer and stuff…
We’re not responsible for the content of any user-submitted post in our forum. If it’s bad content… we didn’t do it and don’t want the heat. If it’s good, we don’t deserve the credit. Simple enough?
We want good and bad feedback. This means we won’t use censorship to hide or defend our shortcomings. However, if you want us to pay attention to bad feedback, give us a reason to read it, a carrot if you will, a prize for enduring the flames and abuse. May we suggest that you offer us a better way… a solution… an alternative approach?
In practice, we’ll make efforts to enforce some of the basic guidelines listed below.
Keep personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, etc. to yourself. Since common sense isn’t common we have to say it. Don’t post advertising or promote products that you’re related to or stand to profit from the referral. (Any reference to another site must be on topic, such as articles of particular interest to our community, etc.) Feel free to post opinions or things you’ve heard, just try to be clear and upfront about the fact that you don’t have PERSONAL experience if you don’t. It’s shallow and our forum members are smart enough to see though it anyway. Want to post smut? There are lots of other places on the web that would love for you to do that, but this isn’t one of them. Our tech staff is a playful bunch and they’ve got time on their hands… spammers and forum vandals beware.
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| It looks like you changed the revenue sharing plan with schools? Did you guys sell-out, lose sight of your mission, etc? |
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Sell out? It’s just the opposite! We’ve EXPANDED the quality and quantity of our revenue sharing and educational efforts. We’ve just applied it differently and we think you’ll agree that it is for the better.
In 2006, we started donating (a MINIMUM of $5000 worth of free drug test kit vouchers) to schools who simply registered in our alliance and agreed not to waste our generous donation.
Since our inception, we’ve allocated a significant percentage of revenue to substance abuse education. We still do and we’ve simply adjusted our approach to enhance the effectiveness of our efforts.
Here’s how…
1. Instead of simply providing schools with funding that can only be used for educational literature and awareness material similar to what they can get almost anywhere, our educational efforts are now less wasteful and more targeted than we originally conceived them. The funds we previously designated to give to schools for education are now aimed at filling open minds rather than trying to open minds that are already closed. Concise, relevant and timely advice on parent-child conversations regarding drug use and testing from experts like Dr. Michael Reznicek, is provided with each free kit that is given away.
2. We have agreed to expand our alliance program to include police departments, anti-drug community coalitions, and treatment centers.
That means we are donating $5,000 worth of free drug test kit vouchers to many more people in many more communities than we ever thought possible.
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