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View Full Version : How accurate are hair drug test from the armpits


garboozle
Sep 14, 2012, 03:33 PM
Say if a male of about 5'11 160 was tested and he smoked cannabis once a month the previous four months, and was an infrequent user the months before hand what would his chances of passing be?

Fr_Chuck
Sep 14, 2012, 04:29 PM
Say if a male doing that, why were they using armpit hair ?

But most likely the prior use will show up.

DrBill100
Sep 14, 2012, 04:42 PM
Say if a male of about 5'11 160 was tested and he smoked cannabis once a month the previous four months, and was an infrequent user the months before hand what would his chances of passing be?

Hair is a very poor medium for the detection of cannabis metabolites. Usually the use must be frequent and cumulative over a period. Axillary hair has about the same incorporation rate as scalp hair but a slower growth rate which makes the detection time longer. It is not likely that metabolites made it into any of your hair but is remotely possible.

In regard to your question of accuracy, that relates to the specific drug tested for. For cannabis metabolites it isn't accurate except in heavy users.

DuPont 2008, Random Student Drug Tests Are They Effective for Identifying Occasional Drug Users? (http://www.preventionnotpunishment.org/pdfs/RandomStudentDrugTests9608.pdf) p. 8

Galanter & Kleber, 2011 Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Substance Abuse, (http://books.google.com/books?id=NEWpRlwUAmcC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=marijuana+incorporation+into+hair&source=bl&ots=vEelAPWmux&sig=7I9Z-DIiT0tv_2eg6X2fz7NSeA4&hl=en&ei=5oTiTsTlOIv22AXV5smyBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CHMQ6AEwCDgU#v=onepage&q=marijuana%20incorporation%20into%20hair&f=false) American Psychiatric Publishing, Wash, DC, p. 58

Marilyn A. Huestis (2007) Human Cannabinoid Pharmacokinetics. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2689518/) Chem Biodivers. 2007 August; 4(8): 1770–1804. Sec 3.5

garboozle
Sep 14, 2012, 06:44 PM
Thank you Dr. Bill, feel slightly optimistic after hearing that. It's not till Thursday So I have a little bit of time. Are all the shampoo products a bunch of BS as I suspect?

DrBill100
Sep 14, 2012, 06:59 PM
I think so. But that's a little beyond my scope of knowledge. Hear quite a few bad reports and the success reports fall within a range of where they would have passed anyway. That's second hand information and I know of no recent research on the subject.

garboozle
Sep 20, 2012, 09:16 AM
Hey Dr, don't know if your still following this thread but the test was today. They took it from my head rather than my pits... which one would me more likely to hold metabolites?

DrBill100
Sep 20, 2012, 12:01 PM
Hey Dr, don't know if your still following this thread but the test was today. They took it from my head rather than my pits... which one would me more likely to hold metabolites?

Arm pits retain metabolites far longer (due to growth rate) but absorb THC at about same rate. Your better off with scalp hair as the metabolites grow out of range must faster.

garboozle
Sep 24, 2012, 06:52 PM
To all interested parties. I passed. :)