MediNat Australia

Acquittal of man caught drug-driving nine days after smoking cannabis throws NSW drug laws into doubt By the News National Reporting Team's Lorna Knowles and Alison Branley New South Wales's roadside drug testing laws have been thrown into doubt after a magistrate acquitted a man who tested positive for cannabis he had smoked nine days before he was pulled over. Key points: Man waited nine days after smoking cannabis before he got behind the wheel THC was detected in his saliva and he was charged He had earlier been told by police to wait at least a week before driving The Greens say the judgement leaves the drug testing laws in disarray Lismore magistrate David Heilpern yesterday found Joseph Ross Carrall not guilty of driving with an illicit drug in his blood because he mistakenly believed that he would no longer test positive to the drug. Mr Carrall was pulled over for random drug tests in May and June last year. When he was tested in May

As many are aware accuracy of Saliva Drug Testing and the detection of THC is frequently questioned. There is substantial research in the last 15 years that indicates that Saliva Drug Testing for THC is quite unstable, even with monumental advances in technology in recent years it still remains so. I don't want to create a "how to buy good marijuana article" however some practical facts need to be covered as well as the technical information.   Below is a typical product insert for a saliva test device showing the types of THC molecules tested. This tests detects both the Parent THC and the metabolite THC-COOH   Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (Parent) 50 ng/mL (-)-11-nor-Δ 9 -THC-9-COOH 12 ng/mL 11-Hydroxy-Δ 9 -THC 300 ng/mL 11-nor-Δ 8 -THC-9-COOH 12 ng/mL The emphasis is on detection of the Parent Drug at 50ng as that is deposited in the mouth via when marijuana is smoked.

Saliva Drug Testing Saliva Tests for drugs is the least invasive and fastest way to test for current impairment from drugs in the workplace. As with any rapid test method including urine drug testing, a Non Negative result needs to be confirmed by a laboratory i n order to obtain a confirmed analytical result. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) or Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) are the preferred confirmatory methods. Here are some Questions and Answers regarding issues some have with Saliva Testing: Q: I had a candidate submit a negative test when the person appears to be under the influence of drugs or something else. A: There are a number of possible explanations:       1. I assume the candidate was tested for Alcohol       2. If the Saliva Test did not have a Benzodiazepine test strip this could be the cause.       3. There are very few substances or adulterants that can provide a false negative test            with saliva. MediNat will s

NATA have finally released information regarding Saliva Drug Testing device standards under AS/NZS4760-2006. We have known for a substantial amount of time that NATA had withdrawn the accreditation for onsite Oral Fluid/Saliva drug testing devices, because we were attempting to get our devices Certified for AS4760 compliance. They have just made an official announcement to that effect: Having conducted several assessments, it has become apparent that there are a number of significant issues with Section 3 of AS 4760:2006 which remain unable to be resolved. This is despite NATA seeking independent feedback to clarify these issues from key professional bodies including the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA), the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (AACB) and from our counterpart organisation in New Zealand, International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ). Accordingly, NATA has not granted accreditation to any facility for AS 4760, Section 3 and a decisi

Vicky Validakis Australian Mining Fair Work Commission supports the use of Saliva Drug Tests Testing the urine of workers in order to detect drug and alcohol use has been banned by the Fair Work Commission which found employees at Endeavour Energy are to be tested using saliva swabs instead. Last week the Fair Work Commission refused Endeavour Energy's bid to urine test its 2635 employees. The commission labelled the use of urine tests “unjust and unreasonable” in a case which could have wider implications for a range of industries, including mining. Endeavour Energy launched the latest legal action in October last year, with the matter heard in the Fair Work Commission in December. The company was attempting to vary the original decision, which required the use of oral testing, with urine based testing. The Electrical Trades Union said the decision confirmed two previous court rulings that found the use of urine test was unfair because it could detect drug u

Australian Standards for Urine and Saliva Drug Tests I thought it was about time to clear this one up, as there is just so much misinformation around the internet about Australian Standards compliance and those organisations that try to create the idea that they are the only company that create an Australian Standards drug test and all others are all making false claims and are somehow in breach of the ACCC Fair Trading Act. Lets get the facts! Australian Standards cut-off levels for Urine tests (copied straight from the Australian Standards): ASNZS 4308-2008 TABLE 1 IMMUNOASSAY SCREENING TEST CUT-OFF LEVELS Class of drug* Cut-off level, μg/L Amphetamine type substances                                 300 Benzodiazepines                                                      200 Cannabis metabolites                                                 50 Cocaine metabolites                                                 300 Opiates