A huge amount of research has gone into the development of saliva drug testing methods. The methodologies used continue to evolve as a result of all this research resulting in more accurate and reliable tests. Saliva drug testing has its obvious advantages but unfortunately, it is not the final solution and it does have its drawbacks.



The major benefit of saliva drug testing is that unlike urine blood tests, it is much easier to collect the sample for testing and it is much more difficult to give a false sample. In urine drug testing the sample is collected in the privacy of a special booth constructed for the purpose or a toilet. The subject has the chance to provide a sample that is clean without the knowledge of the person in charge of testing. This has been the greatest issue with urine drug testing so far.

But the collection of saliva for saliva drug testing is accomplished easily and in public leaving out no space for the subject in question to pull a trick on the tester. The sample required for saliva drug testing is collected by using a scrub that resembles a toothbrush, the only difference being that at the end where there should be bristles, we find a swab that collects saliva. Saliva is collected by placing this collection mechanism between the lower cheek and gum for about two minutes.

Understandably, the collection method for saliva drug testing is obviously simpler than that for urine testing, or blood testing for that matter. Another great advantage of saliva drug testing is that, with the use of some instant testing kits, the result is availed pretty quickly without the need for a lab. In contrast, a blood test would require sample collection by a health care professional and testing in a lab significantly driving up the costs and the time required.

Saliva drug testing cannot be used as a comprehensive drug test for detecting long term drug use patterns. Most drugs do not leave a residue in the saliva beyond a 20 hour period. Saliva drug testing can be used safely to judge whether the person has consumed drugs within the last 24 hours but it won't detect if the person has any history of drug abuse at all. A hair drug test would beat saliva drug testing at it any given day going back up to 90 days, but a hair drug test takes a month or so to give results.

Saliva drug testing is rather an excellent way by which to test long haul truck drivers on the spot before a trip to determine whether he has consumed any drugs recently that would impair his ability to drive safely. Saliva drug testing could also be employed in case of accidents on the job or on the road to determine whether drug abuse was a factor that contributed to the mishap. With instant results and easy sample collection, no other tests would compare with a saliva drug test in these conditions.

Saliva drug testing has the capability to detect up to 8 different drugs in the body. It is usually designed to detect 5 to 6 drugs at the same time. The results of saliva drug testing are accurate and completely reliable. So the question arises as to why saliva drug testing is not as popular or widely employed as the urine test or the blood test.

Saliva drug testing will eventually replace all other drug testing methods in all cases where a comprehensive drug abuse history is not required to be evaluated. This quick and easy method is poised to take the market by storm. That is unless the labs manage to bury it in propaganda.