cannabisnews.com: US Oks Test for Detecting Marijuana in Hair
US Oks Test for Detecting Marijuana in Hair
Posted by CN Staff on May 07, 2002 at 17:56:31 PT
By Reuters
Source: Reuters
Reuters Health A new test that detects marijuana's active ingredient in human hair has won clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the test's manufacturer, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Psychemedics Corp., said on Monday. Psychemedics is a publicly traded testing laboratory, whose clients include more than 2,200 corporations, as well as five of the nation's largest police departments and a number of schools and Federal Reserve banks, the company said.
"Psychemedics is the only company to have any FDA-cleared hair test and we now have them in all the major drugs of abuse categories," noted CEO Ray Kubacki in a statement. Previously, the firm obtained US clearances to market tests for opiates, PCP, cocaine and methamphetamine/ecstasy. Psychemedics Senior Vice President William Thistle told Reuters Health that the laboratory has been performing a "home brew" version of the test for the last 12 to 14 years, but that the FDA clearance is expected to increase acceptance of the product. He said the hair test is more effective than present FDA-approved urine tests, allowing for the detection of drugs used within a 3-month window, compared with the 3-day window for urine tests. Thistle said other advantages include the ability to keep the individual being tested under surveillance while the sample is taken, minimizing the risk of sample contamination or switching. Source: Reuters HealthPublished: Tuesday, May 7, 2002Copyright: 2002 Reuters HealthCannabisNews Drug Testing Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/drug_testing.shtml
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Comment #29 posted by aocp on May 08, 2002 at 19:02:38 PT
thoughts
as with the Kap't, i am balding and have been so since i was 19 (i'm 27 now). The whole time, i've had a widow's peak and that's it. Since July 3, 1996, i've been buzzing my hair without a guard every 1-2 weeks. I went in to apply for a bank teller job in summer 2000 and they told me i'd have to pass a hair test. This idiot of a woman apparantly didn't see the obvious problem with this and when i brought it up, she said she'd have to ask her manager. After about 10 minutes, she came back and said it was no big deal b/c they'd just take it from shaving my arms and legs. Wow!! All that for $10/hour!! I tore up the application in front of her and walked out.I'm gonna take stock out in laser-hair removal companies.Does anyone know if it's true that Canadian courts have ruled drug testing illegal up north? That's enough for me to leave this blasted waste of a "country" (call it the united reich of amerika, as it deserves) on its own.
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on May 08, 2002 at 11:41:32 PT
Bosley Hair Transplants
qqqq that's too much! LOL!
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Comment #27 posted by Toker00 on May 08, 2002 at 11:34:50 PT
I like that, qqqq.
I suppose by talking to people and helping them get their heads out of their posteriors, would qualify as a "hole". Expose their hypocracy, and battle them at the ballot. Sounds kind of lame, but I guess the alternative is worse. Until, that is, we either find another alternative, or they give us one.One nation under God. Indivisable. Liberty. Justice. For ALL. One World under Capitalism. Devisive. Slavery. Injustice. For ALL the people. ALL the Time. And you thought we were Free? And you Anti's think God approves of you? NOT!Peace. Realize, then Legalize.
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Comment #26 posted by qqqq on May 08, 2002 at 07:13:40 PT
typo correction
..that should have read.."..hole in the hull.."
...pardon me...
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Comment #25 posted by qqqq on May 08, 2002 at 07:11:23 PT
TokerOO
..yup,,it's pretty sad....I think there are still plenty of people who would really like to rock the boat.. ..But nowdays,,,Rock the Boat,,Go to Jail!...Even the most zealous of boat rockers will back off from their boat rockin' activities when they are tear gassed,,billy clubbed,,and thrown in jail....I have learned to pretend I'm normal when boating..I wave to all the people on other boats,,and people on shore.... No one suspects that I am actually a boat rocking terrorist Freedom Fighter,,working under the cover of normalness...and many times,it turns out that many other people on the boat are wanna-be boat rockers.....I have developed a non-invasive boat rocking technique.....I sneak around and poke hole in the hole,,and push assholes overboard when no one is looking
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Comment #24 posted by goneposthole on May 08, 2002 at 06:11:38 PT
web site
hair it is.
http://www.drugtestwithhair.com
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Comment #23 posted by Toker00 on May 08, 2002 at 05:54:54 PT
qqqq
It's a damn shame, qqqq, when caring is replaced by group apathy. "Hey, I know this is wrong, but I'm gonna wait to see if ANYONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO ANYTHING." If there is a robbery in a store full of people, the robber stands a good chance of getting away. If there are only two people in the store, the robber may likely get nabbed. (Like the liquor store that was robbed and caught on video tape. The two women working there, clobbered the guy.) Would he have gotten away if the store had been crowded? Probably. I agree with you that people just don't want to ROCK THE BOAT. dddd probably does, too. I don't understand why this happens. But that is what is happening to us. There are millions of us who toke, but only a few who have the guts to stand up and be counted. Any insight as to how to change this situation? I say: SINK THE F**CKING BOAT! And learn how to swim.Peace. Realize, then Legalize.
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Comment #22 posted by goneposthole on May 08, 2002 at 05:51:44 PT
Mr. Clean
Mr. Clean will have to grow his hair to find out how clean he really is. If he would lose his job, his picture on the bottle would have to be replaced with a clone implanted with a microchip to digitally monitor his activities at all times. A UPC code tatooed on the back of the head and no cerebrum (the chip would replace it). When you clean your floors, you can rest assured some shaved head hippie hasn't been using something unapproved by the FDA. The clone would always submit to the bullsheet.
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Comment #21 posted by qqqq on May 08, 2002 at 05:32:01 PT
Bosley Hair Transplants
" Hair analysis provides a greater challenge to applicants who want to avoid drug detection.
These applicants cannot replace their hair with someone else's."
...yes,,,but it's not a challenge that a hair transplant cant solve!..Instead of clean urine,,people will be selling clean hair transplants,,on ebay!.....and then there will be the same aftermarket items advertised in High Times..."Pass any hair test!!! Guaranteed!"..
..Strange rumors will surface..; "..If you soak your hair in cat pee,and Gatorade for an hour,,you'll test clean every time"
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Comment #20 posted by Jose Melendez on May 08, 2002 at 05:20:30 PT:
FAQ
Q: Why use hair analysis for pre-employment testing in the workplace? A: Urine pre-employment testing is often called a "liquid IQ test:" Is the applicant smart enough to abstain from drug use for a week before the drug test? The most serious challenge to an effective pre-employment drug-testing program is the limited detection time of drugs in urine. Amphetamines, opiates, PCP and cocaine have average limits of detection of 3-5 days; marijuana has an average detection time of up to a week or two in urine. Conversely, drug deposits in hair remain as long as the hair is left uncut, although laboratories generally test drugs deposited in hair over a period of approximately the most recent 90 days. Urine appears to be more susceptible to adulteration, hydration and switching. The applicant has ample time while searching for employment to plan a method to avoid a positive result in urine. High Times magazine (easily found at the newsstand) and the Internet offer methods on "how to beat a urine drug test". Hair analysis provides a greater challenge to applicants who want to avoid drug detection. These applicants cannot replace their hair with someone else's. The applicant cannot adulterate hair by placing anything in or on the sample while in the specimen collection area. The collector takes the hair directly from the applicant and the sample is never out of sight. The applicant cannot eat or drink anything that will dilute a hair sample. We often hear of people who strip, bleach and re-dye their hair its original color. This may be effective if such an applicant is an occasional drug user, and his/her drug metabolite levels were at or near the detection cutoff levels. In most cases however, the cutoff level used by the more sophisticated laboratories is low enough that stripping the hair will not remove all of the drug that has been deposited.
Drug Test Q&A
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Comment #19 posted by dddd on May 08, 2002 at 05:14:26 PT
It will be interesting indeed
...bald people may be forced to grow a "court ordered beard"....Or people may be suspended from work or school for three months,and be required to submit a freshly harvested three month old hair...I am assuming,that hair that has not been shaved off for many years,like butt hair,,armpit hair,,or "old growth" scrotum and labia hair ,,would not be used for a hair test,,,,BUT,,on the other hand,,perhaps "old growth" hairs would be the best ones to test!.....
.."Mr.dddd,,the results came back from your scrotum hair test...You have done some heavy partying.After an in depth analysis of the growth rings,,the lab technicians estimated that you have smoked over 68 lbs of Marijuana in the last 22 years.This report says that you dropped LSD more times than you took aspirin...and we were all disgusted to learn of your nagging crack habit in the 80s...I'm afraid we cannot let you have the job.There are some people from the federal government outside who want to ask you some questions...Have a nice day."br>
..Fingernail tests cant be too far off....I still like the idea of a shit test....dddd
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Comment #18 posted by Jose Melendez on May 08, 2002 at 05:01:26 PT:
more from Shankar Vedantam
from:http://www.maps.org/media/vedantam.html Tracing the Synapses of Our Spirituality Researchers Examine Relationship Between Brain and Religion By Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post Sunday, June 17, 2001 In Philadelphia, a researcher discovers areas of the brain that are activated during meditation. At two other universities in San Diego and North Carolina, doctors study how epilepsy and certain hallucinogenic drugs can produce religious epiphanies. And in Canada, a neuroscientist fits people with magnetized helmets that produce "spiritual" experiences for the secular. The work is part of a broad effort by scientists around the world to better understand religious experiences, measure them, and even reproduce them. Using powerful brain imaging technology, researchers are exploring what mystics call nirvana, and what Christians describe as a state of grace. Scientists are asking whether spirituality can be explained in terms of neural networks, neurotransmitters and brain chemistry. What creates that transcendental feeling of being one with the universe? It could be the decreased activity in the brain's parietal lobe, which helps regulate the sense of self and physical orientation, research suggests. How does religion prompt divine feelings of love and compassion? Possibly because of changes in the frontal lobe, caused by heightened concentration during meditation. Why do many people have a profound sense that religion has changed their lives? Perhaps because spiritual practices activate the temporal lobe, which weights experiences with personal significance. "The brain is set up in such a way as to have spiritual experiences and religious experiences," said Andrew Newberg, a Philadelphia scientist who wrote the book "Why God Won't Go Away." "Unless there is a fundamental change in the brain, religion and spirituality will be here for a very long time. The brain is predisposed to having those experiences and that is why so many people believe in God."(continues...)see also:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%7C%7C%7C+SHANKAR+VEDANTAM&btnG=Google+Search
Arrest Prohibition
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Comment #17 posted by kaptinemo on May 08, 2002 at 04:47:26 PT:
But what about the 'follically-challenged"?
I suffer from premature baldness; I started losing my hair at age 28. So I shave the rest of my head. Which makes things much simpler. "Makes you look less half-*ssed, and people don' wanna mess wit' ya." one old grunt told me....Where I work are lots of men who've, either by default like me, or by actual choice, shave their heads. I am sure that drug testing is the last thing on the minds of these people. 'Style' is. But this will lead to some strange places...Just imagine: what's going to happen when this test begins to supplant the less-than-venerable 'PITB' (P*ss In The Bottle)? Now, I can just hear shrill screeching of the antis: "That man shaves his head! What's he hiding? Only somebody who shaves his head has something to hide! Test that man!"Yep, this is going to become very interesting...when lawsuits brought by 'clean' but 'follically-challenged' individuals who refused to take drug tests ordered by stupid employers based upon a suspicion that head-shaving is indicative of drug use begin to hit some companies wallets. I can hardly wait.
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Comment #16 posted by Rambler on May 08, 2002 at 00:06:48 PT
The FDA approval process.What does this mean?
||| SHANKAR VEDANTAM WASHINGTON POST - After thousands of studies, hundreds of millions of
prescriptions and tens of billions of dollars in sales, two things are certain about pills that treat depression:
Antidepressants like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft work. And so do sugar pills. A new analysis has found that in the
majority of trials conducted by drug companies in recent decades, sugar pills have done as well as -- or better
than -- antidepressants. Companies have had to conduct numerous trials to get two that show a positive result,
which is the Food and Drug Administration's minimum for approval. What's more, the sugar pills, or placebos,
cause profound changes in the same areas of the brain affected by the medicines, according to research
published last week. One researcher has ruefully concluded that a higher percentage of depressed patients get
better on placebos today than 20 years ago.
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Comment #15 posted by dddd on May 07, 2002 at 23:55:45 PT
..."Proofreading is for wimps"???
.......4Qs careless behavior,,and his wandering train of thought,,,,his akward ramblings,,,,and ribaldly cavalier approach,,,and his pseudo-intellectual verbosity,,gregarious misuse of esoteric words,which are frequently misspelled!...His mind must be withered...He copied my punctuationally abusive style,,and now,,no one believes that I dont know qqqq,,and everyone probably thinks I'm some kindof schizoid freak!..I'm gonna boycott reading 4qs comments,and I hope everyone else will too!..His comments are like some sort of SPAM from hell!....dddd
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Comment #14 posted by Lehder on May 07, 2002 at 23:40:01 PT
to touch the lips of jesus
Because it's marketed as less invasive than urine worship, the prohibitionists dream that their test will be accepted as the standard in qualifying for everything: class registration on campus, voter registration, driver's license renewal, pissing at a pay toilet. I remember their glee on that day in 69 when Chicago jailers hacked the subversive curls off Abbie Hoffman. It's the prohibitionists' holy grail, the ultimate symbolic injury: plucking tufts of hair to test for marijuana. But not from our heads. For the fiscal year ended 12/31/01, revenues
decreased 18% to $15.7 million. Net income decreased 86% to $233
thousand. Revenues reflect a lower volume of hair samples processed
from existing customers, resulting from the current economic downturn.http://biz.yahoo.com/p/p/pmd.htmlAs an investment, Psychemedics rates a D- from IBD. So help starve the economy, because when the damage has finally taught that jobs, homes, kitts, cats and lives are the cost of bigotry's pleasures, the whole damn war will rate a D. That's D as in Death Sentence, and it won't get up again.
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Comment #13 posted by qqqq on May 07, 2002 at 23:12:56 PT
..This is A Real BIGGIE!.....
...I am shocked like TokerOO,and Irule....
..This is BIG news folks!...when this hair testing catches on,,alot of big money will be made by this company,,,and a wise investor may want to consider buying stock in Shick,,Nair,,Gillette...shaved heads will become popular even among women...people will have to get up a little earlier,so they will have time to shave their ENTIRE BODY before they go to school or work...(I assume that a "hair test",would not be limited to hair on ones head.?..Does anyone know about this?...Does a pubic hair,or other body hair grow fast enough to test accuratly??),,,
......and,,,here's the BIG question;..There will be no oversight,or control,and verification of these hair tests. That's something the FDA is not concerned about...The FDA,,is is just like the FCC,,and the FTC,,and numerous other three letter agencies ,that I have four letter words for....... They are all part of what I call "The Empire" .I think this is an appropriate label for todays ruling demockrassy!...Bottom line,,,,MONEY TALKS! ..
..This FDA "approval",is worth BILLIONS..Dark powers are in control of this country,,and most of the continent,and globe!
..here's my favorite part;
"Psychemedics Senior Vice President William Thistle told Reuters Health that the laboratory has been performing a "home brew" version of the test for the last 12 to 14 years, but that the FDA clearance is expected to increase acceptance of the product."
......Oh,,,now isnt that fuckin' special!........."Home Brew".....Great Scott!...In other words, Psychemedics is the ONLY company that has an FDA approved hair test,,,so that would mean that there would be no way to verify the accuracy of a test,,there would be no acceptable second opinion ,that was recogognized by the Federal government. ......So,,,if the FDA should not get around to approving any other hair testing companies for 3 or 4 years, ,then the federal governments collusion with Psychemedics will make it impossible for anyone to prove their innocence!,,,unless they have enough MONEY to buy innocence...............................
..And,,come to think of it,,thats one of the main problems,,;."Innocence",can now be bought!,,If you can afford it,, and you know the right people,,and grease the right palms, you can BUY your way out of dam near anything!,,,,but if you are a normal American, you will not be able to afford freedom,and you become human livestock in some industrial privatly owned prison institution...
TokerOO said:
"Does anyone see us EVER getting our country back? Does anyone care, anymore? Obviously, not very many do."
..I think not really caring is only a part of a much larger problem..Some people dont want to know what's really going on,,because they know it would make them very upset,so they kind of avoid the facts,,besides,,most Americans feel rather powerless to try and change the government.They are kept busy working so they can keep up the house and car payments,and dont really have time to be interested in what's going on.Their main concern about the government,is fear of the IRS....They believe that they are well informed,because they read the newspapers, and watch NBC news,and Nightline....They dont know enough to care,,,but,,it's not that they dont care,,it's that they are told what they should care about!..They BELIEVE that the "news",is reporting the things that are most important to everyone in the country,,,They assume that the "news",is from an independent free press.......
....I live in Orange County,California,,I'm about 40 miles south of Hollywood,but it's all LA.If someone asks me where I live,I say "LA"...and a good example of the priorities of news coverage,is police pursuits...In the last three days,,regular programs have been interrupted for live coverage of police pursuits.Even local evening news on FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS,they are all pre-empted by live coverage...They will break in to the middle of a soap opera,or Oprah for a "special report",,and cover a police pursuit for hours......I gotta admit,,police pursuits are rather entertaining..I'd rather see live coverage from a helicopter sky cam,,of some desperate idiot trying to figure out a way to get out of going to jail,than Peoples Court,or Judge Judy..I've made it a sort of sick hobby,to surf around the major channels,(I dont have cable),and see how many stations are covering the pursuits.Most of the time,you can switch between FOX,ABC,and NBC,and get views from three different copters.They cover these pursuits for hours,,(..most everyone likes to see spectacular crashes,LIVE...sick,,but true.)...anyway,my point is; that this is a perfect example of the priority "news"...But,,even when there is no police pursuit,the "news",is little more than a corporate government production of Inside Edition,or Jerry Springer...
..OK...Let's say you wanna argue with 4Q...you think that 4q has gone off the deep end in his nagging obsessive concerns about the media,and its' role in a cult-like manipulation/domination of the American people.. Well, I want to know if anyone dares to engage me in a polite debate!..........I am aware that I have strayed a bit off track from where I began,,but I will continue to bang the gong about the role that media,and the manipulation of information plays in the hijacking of America by the Root of all Evil!..Most people have been led to blindly assume that the "news",is from a "free press"...If we had a free press,,then Ted Koppel would have done a Nightline about the Million Man Marijuana March,,,,Joel Miller would host the real "Inside Edition",, On Sunday morning,,you could watch "This Week,with Sam Lehder,and EJ Roberts"(at the roundtable,,Goneposthole Stephanopolous,and Patrick Will.)...and,"Sunday Morning,with Kaptinemo Osgood",,,,,,,
....and of course;;;"Meet the Fuckin' Press,with dddd Russert"......
.I'm going to wrecklessly post this without proofreading it.,,that way,after I post it,I can read it,and suprize myself................Proofreading is for wimps!
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Comment #12 posted by goneposthole on May 07, 2002 at 21:37:40 PT
anal probe
With all of the hair removed from your body, you would look like the aliens. Actually, they forgot to remove my anal probe. I'm uplinked to their galactic spacecraft constantly.
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Comment #11 posted by goneposthole on May 07, 2002 at 21:17:51 PT
Psychomedics
Stock symbol: PMD. Price oer share (today): $3.49.Earnings per share: $0.01.Price to earnings ratio: 349 (astromomical) a P/E of 10 to 13 is ideal.Outstanding shares (shares owned by investors): Approximately 21 million.For 70 million dollars a wealthy investor could buy this company, close it down pronto and have a nice tax write off. With any luck, someone will.
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Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on May 07, 2002 at 21:14:08 PT
What, no anal probe?
Hair testing? C'mon, how inefficient can you get. Just jam a big ol' probe right up the sphincter and leave it in for a few months, you can sample every metabolite that comes down the pike and have it uploaded to the DEA computers via wireless connection.On a more serious note, this testing is VERY defeatable. Shave your head. Oh yeah, I know they can use hair from ANYWHERE on the body (I'll bet Ass-croft gets a good thrill from thinking about that). But there are many salons where some Brazilian lady will wax any part of your body - and I mean ANY part. It's only like $50.
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Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on May 07, 2002 at 20:59:39 PT
Psychomedics
Maybe George Soros should drive the price sky high and then dump it. It will end up an Enron. A pump and dump scheme would work here, too. I doubt very much that institutional investors will buy this stock. It has too much potential to get burned quickly.In my humble opinion, any investor would buy it to make a fast buck and then get out. AOL Time Warner was an 88 dollar stock. It closed today at about $17.50; it has been thoroughly throttled. AOL's advertising revenue has been tanked.Of course, I could be wrong, but bankrupting companies is a form a doing business these days. Look at K-Mart.That is how fascism operates.
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Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on May 07, 2002 at 20:54:55 PT
Who will get the contract for the barbed wire?
Yes a social campaign of hate and misunderstanding can be profitable for the technologies involved in identifying and isolating the hated parties.Some European families in the 16th and 17th centuries made a nice profit from developing and manufacturing instruments to examine and torture suspected witches.
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Comment #7 posted by el_toonces on May 07, 2002 at 19:31:12 PT:
The stock of this company.....
....will bring "just rewards" to those who expect to profit from the awful policy implications of this "wundertest". test italics
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Comment #6 posted by fivepounder on May 07, 2002 at 19:24:03 PT
from the mind of fascists
And the reason that what drugs have been in my body for the last THREE MONTHS is anyone's business but my own is what?? Privacy? That's long gone.
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Comment #5 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 07, 2002 at 19:19:24 PT:
Hair Testing
Basically, they are testing for trace drug metabolites that hang around various times. It is racist because the thicker hair of African-Americans is more likely to harbor residues.Additionally, when they take hair, they have access to viable cells in the roots. This opens the door to clandestine genetic testing. So much for utopia.
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Comment #4 posted by Patrick on May 07, 2002 at 18:50:34 PT
Another new Test approved.
Patmedicorp has just approved a new hair follicle test for Nazis. It is really a simple test and it will cost you absolutely nothing. It works like this, if you are asked to submit to a hair follicle test for marijuana use by any company, person, or "authority," then you just discovered another Nazi! Please post the results of your Nazi Test here for the public safety of future generations. It really is that simple.
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Comment #3 posted by Toker00 on May 07, 2002 at 18:38:46 PT
Can you say, Naziesque?
At what point do we admit, Democracy is Dead? Just visualizing this test being done in a clinic, sends chills down my spine. It's like they have us tied to a chair, gagged, and that one bright light above our heads. All piss testing is a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment. Not to mention the fact that you have to Prove Yourself Innocent.Man, this government sucks more by the day. And, bombing mailboxes ain't gonna change it. Does anyone see us EVER getting our country back? Does anyone care, anymore? Obviously, not very many do.Admit it. Democracy is dead. Welcome to Nazi Amerika. (And I used to be sooo proud of this country. Now, I feel like the American Indian in the commercial about littering, with a big tear streaming down his face. Only instead of litter, it is greed, corruption, and TYRANNY, with little pieces of dead Democracy strown around.)Peace. Realize,then Legalize.
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Comment #2 posted by null on May 07, 2002 at 18:26:59 PT
testing: one, two, thirteen
He said the hair test is more effective than present FDA-approved urine tests, allowing for the detection of drugs used within a 3-month windowI've got a 13 years worth of tresses which read like tree rings. I am curious as to how they can seperate 3 months from that. Is this based on the half-life (so to speak) of THC and other chemicals which are stored in hair or do they just check the portion near the root?None the less, WHEN the war on some drugs ends, this company is going under. Everyday, Gattaca becomes a movie which is prophetically ahead of it's time.
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 07, 2002 at 18:02:20 PT:
Isn't This Special?
Investors may wish to ensure that this stock is not in their portfolio.
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