Oral fluid testing: new technology enables drug testing without embarrassment

Drug abuse is a widespread problem across society, and its negative impact on performance and safety in the workplace cannot be overstated. Even as abuse of older, illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and amphetamines persists, new mind-altering chemicals continue to emerge, contributing to an ever-changing landscape of drug abuse and its physical and psychological consequences. Abuse of multiple drugs, and the combined use of alcohol and illicit and prescription drugs, have become increasingly common. The growing and continually evolving problem of drug abuse demands novel strategies for drug testing that reliably and reproducibly detect drugs of abuse, offer an effective solution to persistent problems related to test accuracy and the potential for sample adulteration and substitution, and speak to the growing concerns over issues of individual privacy. Oral fluid testing is a reliable, new technology that overcomes many of the problems of older methods for drug detection.