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Home Drug Tests Popular with Parents, Thwarted by Teens
March 5, 2004

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News Summary

While a growing number of websites are selling home drug-test kits to parents, some of the same sites are also selling products that help teens mask their drug use, USA Today reported March 1.

"It's a classic cat-and-mouse game," said Allen St. Pierre of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "A drug test comes out, it's thwarted, then it's re-engineered, and it goes on and on."

The home drug-test kits range from drip-strip urine tests to hair analysis. The options to fool the drug tests include herbal cleaners and additives.

Sharon Levy, who specializes in childhood addiction at Children's Hospital in Boston, Mass., said products to beat drug tests "absolutely" work. Levy is against home testing because she says could lead to a breakdown in the parent-child relationship and keep teens from going to their doctor, where they can get help for a drug addiction.

"The first thing you should do is talk to the child," said Levy. She said if a drug test is needed, the physician should do it. "I'm sure I can do a better job with it than a parent can do at home."

But Sue Roche, president of the drug-prevention group National Families in Action, said the home drug-test kits help frustrated parents. Often, said Roche, pediatricians won't test teens for drugs, or if they do, they keep the results from the parents.

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