Drug abuse has become a growing socio-economic concern in many developed and developing countries worldwide. Law enforcement agencies and hospitals routinely use drug (including alcohol) tests as part of assessing the overall condition of an individual. Employers often include a drug screening test as part of the application process. Employers may also ask an employee to submit to a drug test if they suspect marijuana or other drug use. There are a number of FDA-approved, relatively low-cost urine drug testing kits available for purchase by individuals or professionals. These tests follow the guidelines of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Important Note: Each of the one-step tests can be used for qualitative detection of the applicable drugs and their metabolites, but provides only preliminary analytical results. A more specific method must be used to confirm the results, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is the preferred method. When drug of abuse preliminary test results are positive, clinical consideration plus professional judgment should be used for verification.