Well 2010 is finally here and a new decade begins. What does that mean for the drug testing industry? The drug testing industry is a field that was cited recently as being worth $1.5 billion – what new direction do you think the field will take to better serve employers, parents, and worried relations?

As a concerned parent or business owner outside of the industry, this question may not be particularly worrisome to you. It just sounds like a simple if irrelevant industry question. But the direction this field takes will mean new efforts in making homes and workplaces safer and hopefully new technologies that allow us to deter the abuse of drugs.

We think the new decade is going to see the rise of the saliva test – and here are 3 reasons why:

1. Great usability for any consumer. A saliva test for drugs is extremely easy to use. It does not have the “ew” factor that some may find in urine drug testing and it is really easy to administer. Cheating the test is difficult, as you can collect the sample with the person. So when you purchase a home drug test that uses saliva as its sample you can be confident you’re not throwing money away – important to home consumers and small businesses (especially in this economy!) alike.

2. Ideal detection time. Again, as a business, especially a business in a recession, you may be wondering if it is worthwhile to bring in a laboratory to test your employees for drug use. Why not cut to the chase and just test yourself, using the one test that can tell you if somebody is actually high? Because although there are many aspects of drug abuse that can affect behavior, in many industries the fact that someone is high can be the most urgent and dangerous aspect, and certainly the most important one to test for. A saliva test has the capacity to tell you if someone is on methamphetamine 5-10 minutes after they take it. The same goes for cocaine. Marijuana will show up generally an hour after consumption which is still a short enough delay that you can tell if someone is high or if their work has been/will be affected.

3. Affordability. Again, no need for a lab – you can buy these and keep them around, and get the results instantly, all for under $15.00 a test (and that is the high price range for the technology). Since the saliva tests have approximately 97% accuracy, they are a great way to ensure that the workplace is safe without breaking the budget.

These are only the top 3 reasons why home drug testing, and particularly saliva drug testing, is going to expand this coming year. For someone who wants to drug test but wasn’t sure they could afford it, or if someone wants to get rid of their laboratory service but doesn’t know what to replace it with, these 3 reasons should prove convincing.

Source by Robyn Schelenz