There have been a lot of threads in regards to the military and drug testing. Some of the questions included what do they normally screen for, what are the cutoffs that will make you pop, and do they screen for AS.
As a former
Substance Abuse Control Officer(SACO) for my unit please allow me to shed some light on this issue. But before I start, I must state, in no uncertain terms, that I do not condone the use of ANY illegal substance. I just feel its important to provide you all with the accurate information.
1. In the Navy/Marine Corps, the unit is required to randomly test 10% of its people per month. The people selected for these test are selected completely randomly via the units roster imputed into a computer program.
2. These random tests screen for the following drugs. On this list you will also find the concentrations in your blood that will make you pop.
Rpt Abbreviation Drug Cutoff Value
THC THC 15 ng/ml
COC COCAINE 100 ng/ml
PCP PCP 25 ng/ml
COD CODEINE 2000 ng/ml
MOR MORPHINE 4000 ng/ml
6AM HEROIN 10 ng/ml
LSD 2-OXO-3-HYDROXY-LSD 1000 pg/ml
LSD LSD 200 pg/ml
MDMA MDMA 500 ng/ml
MDA MDA 500 ng/ml
MDEA MDEA 500 ng/ml
OXCOD OXYCODONE 100 ng/ml
OXMOR OXYMORPHONE 100 ng/ml
DMETH D-METHAMPHETAMINE 100 ng/ml
DAMP D-AMPHETAMINE 100 ng/ml
3. What happens if someone pops? Once the SACO receives the report from the drug screening lab that someone has popped positive, that member will be recommended for an administrative separation unless that member was prescribed a medication that falls in line with the substance that they popped for.
4. What are the chances for a false positive? The drug screening labs have some high speed gear. If any sample comes back positive,, they immediately test it again. They routinely quality check their test equipment by having shop supervisors randomly sending batches of samples through with known positive samples. The testers do not know when this occurs. So to sum it up, the chances are slim to none that when a SACO gets a report that a sample is positive for drugs, that it is incorrect.
5. Now to the AS issue. If you reference the list above, you will not find a single listing for any kind of AS/PH. Thats because the facilities that the Navy/Marine Corps use, which are located in J'Ville FL, and San Diego, CA, can not screen for AS/PH. They just dont have the equipment. The Navy/Marine Corps has to send samples for steroid testing to Dr. Caitlin's lab at UCLA. The most recent price for this test was $250.00.
6. So how does the military actually test for steroids then? Well this is kind of a nebulous issue. First, you have to be suspected of use and the command then has to have probable cause to ask you for a sample. Now comes the question, well how in the heck does the command get probable cause. Like I said, its a nebulous issue. Anyone reading these threads knows the sides associated with using AS/PH's and which ones can become apparent to your co-workers.
If your command thinks it has probable cause, they will probably already have consulted with base legal, they will ask you to consent to providing a sample. They are going to ask you this because it eliminates the need to prove probable cause. If you do not consent, the commanding officer will then order you to provide a sample. There is a difference here. Personally, I dont think I would ever consent to any kind of test. Whether I was using or not. This comes down to privacy issue for me. Besides, if you consent and you pop, you can be recommended for court martial. If it is a command directed test, and you pop, they can only administratively separate you. Reason being, a positive result obtained from a command directed urinalysis, without satisfying probable cause, is not admissible in court.
7. So then you ask, what AS/PH can they test for and how long do they stay in your system? This question I cant definitively answer. I think that you could probably find the answer to this on this board someplace or on the net. Just be advised, I would suspect that any answer you find will be a best guess. I have talked to the drug demand reduction coordinator for my base, and was sitting in his office when he called the UCLA lab. The UCLA lab would not go into specifics as to screening process and detection times.
8. So you are asking, what does this mean for me? In a nutshell, dont do drugs. Plain and simple. If you are using dope or AS/PH, and in the military, you are playing with fire.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.
Best regards
