Pot Plans: Efforts Surge in Congress to Reform Marijuana Laws
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/06/pot-plans-efforts-surge-in-congress-to-reform-marijuana-laws/#ixzz2KiIw4pXr

Colorado Legislature Gears Up to Debate Drugged Driving Limits:
http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/drugs/colorado-legislature-gears-up-to-debate-drugged-driving-limits

Is Pot Smoking a Stroke Trigger? 
http://bit.ly/VK8lZC

For Release Immediately
December 31st, 2012

DES PLAINES, IL— HairStat® / NailStat®Improved Cutoffs — Today, United States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc. announced that they will introduce lower substances of abuse screening and confirmation cutoffs for hair and nail specimens. 

Positive Customer Impact

Many customers have already benefited from using USDTL as a laboratory that can customize drug testing to suit their needs. The improvement of the cutoffs means that customers can now have a wider range of detection for certain substances of abuse, and can be assured that they are receiving positive drug screen confirmations not currently available at market place. The breadth and sensitivity of the profiles make these tests more effective.

HairStat® / NailStat® Availability

These improvements in HairStat and NailStat are driven by USDTL’s ongoing commitment to be a leader in alcohol and substances of abuse detection. These cutoffs will be effective for hair and nail specimens received at USDTL on or after January 2nd, 2013.

Established in 1991 as a specialty drug testing facility, United States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc. quickly became a leader in the industry.  They have made significant breakthroughs by developing procedures to effectively use specimens to diagnose alcohol and substance misuse and abuse.  They offer a wide range of testing services and specialize in hard to detect substances of abuse and customized assays.

For more information please visit http://www.USDTL.com

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USDTL,  HairStat®, NailStat® are trademarks of Unites States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. 

For more information on HairStat® or NailStat®:

Hair Testing
Nail Testing

Q: I received a report that says “REJECTED” and “Profile not indicated- fax request to lab”. What does that mean? Has the specimen been destroyed? What should I do?

A: One piece of information that must be present on the Requisition Form is the Test Profile Requested. The lab is not allowed to pick and choose which panels to run on your behalf. We must obtain that information from the client in writing.

If the requisition form does not indicate which test to run, we reject the specimen with a request for the client to notify USDTL which profile to run on the specimen. You may notify the lab of the test profile you desire by fax or email. Remember to include multiple pieces of identification on the request. One fail-safe and quick way to notify the lab of which test to run is to note the desired profile on your fax copy and fax that over to the lab.

These specimens are retained for at least one week. Specimen requests not resolved within one week are scheduled for destruction along with the week-old negative specimens. One alternative to consider is the selection of a “Default Profile”. Having this information documented and on file at the laboratory allows the laboratory to assign a default profile when one is not indicated on the Requisition Form.

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.