If you’re a drug user you may be concerned that one day you’ll fail a drug test on the roadside or at work and face the consequences that follow. If so, you may have researched whether it’s possible to beat a drug test.
A quick search on Google will certainly throw up plenty of potential ways to beat a drug test. But, just because some of these solutions seem compelling and real, do they have any merit?
Let’s take a look at some of the common ‘solutions’ you’ll come across online:
- Diluting your urine by drinking lots of water. We found one online forum that recommends you drink around 8 litres of water to pass a test. Ironically, the forum also warns that you can die from drinking too much water! Apart from the risk of dying (yes, it is possible to die from drinking too much water) there’s little evidence to show that this approach works. There are also two other aspects that can make this solution useless. Firstly, unless you know you’re going to be tested you won’t have time to drink a large quantity of water. And secondly, the Police and some workplace drug testing companies (most notably Integrity Sampling) use saliva drug testing methods, not urine.
- Substituting your urine for another person’s urine. This method will work (presuming the other person hasn’t taken drugs) but it won’t help you if saliva drug testing methods are being used. Also, if a trained collector is doing the testing, they’ll ensure adequate supervision makes this method virtually impossible to carry out.
- Substitute your urine for another product. The same online forum where we uncovered the ‘drink 8 litres of water’ solution also advised that powdered urine and other products can be purchased to beat a drug test. You’d have to be high on drugs to think these products actually work!
- Masking or disguising your sample. The story goes something like this: Simply take a substance like aspirin, niacin, bleach, vinegar, cranberry juice or products like Goldenseal to make or disguise any drugs in your system. Problem is, it’s a myth. There is simply no evidence that any substance can help you mask or disguise drug use. There is no evidence that any substance can successfully help you beat a drug test.
It’s important to note that the best way of beating a drug test is simply not to take drugs in the first place. After all, any drug use is unsafe. However, if you are going to take illicit drugs, make sure you allow plenty of time between your drug use and the need to drive or work.
How much time? The time required for a drug or drugs to metabolize in your body can depend on a number of factors, such as the type and amount of drugs taken, as well as individual factors. It’s very difficult to predict exactly how long it will take for someone who has taken drugs to be safe to drive and work, and safe from any drug testing.
In short, there will always be some risk involved.
