Saturday, Oct 8th The Chicago Tribune ran an article entitled:  “Proposal to test Lake Zurich High athletes for drugs divides parents: Critics say such programs violate rights; supporters say they save lives.” 

The reporter, Lisa Black, spoke about the protestations from parents over privacy rights but schools have historically used random drug testing on students in extracurricular activities. Time and again testing has been shown to improve outcomes. Today they test using hair samples. According to the article:

“Hair samples check for five illegal drugs, which can be detected up to 90 days after use. The school administers about 1,350 tests annually, spending $65 on each— costs covered by tuition…”

This is a basic test panel in use for years. Current testing available includes over 14 types of drugs plus EtG an alcohol biomarker found in hair and nails that can not only detect use, but can detect the difference between binge drinking and social drinking– something that, according to the article, was of concern to parents and administrators alike.

As a local company we specialize in testing children/adults (using nails, hair, blood, oral fluid and urine) and newborns (through umbilical cord tissue and meconium) for exposure to substances of abuse and alcohol.  It is our mission to help identify problems early on so that physicians, parents and courts can help lower Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder symptoms as well as catch and possibly reverse addiction problems in teens and adults.

For more information feel free to call Patrick Lavelle, Forensic Account Executive, USDTL, Inc. at 847-375-0770 and check our website: https://www.usdtl.com/

You can read the full article here.

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