Should I Use a Home Drug-Testing Kit on My Kids?

Many parents have questions about the recently common drug-testing kits found in stores, marketed for at-home use. Should you use them to test your kids? What should you do with the result? Are they even reliable?

At-home drug-testing kits are common nowadays and can be quite inexpensive. They are each designed to test for one drug, from marijuana, meth, heroin, cocaine, bath salts, prescription pills, or others. Now, many parents are confronting the question, should I use them to test my kids?

“They are not as reliable as the boxes or the labels will make them out to be,” said Steve Liga, the executive director for a local chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. He continued on to say that the tests can often be unreliable, giving false positives or negatives as the case may be. However, if you do choose to test your kids to see if they’re using drugs, you should be prepared for any outcome. And if they do register a positive, it’s important to remember that treatment is by far the best option for combating drug use.

If you think your child or loved one is using drugs, you should seek help now. Thankfully, there is good help available. Detoxification and behavioral therapy have proven to be effective in treating drug dependence. Addicts are often unable to complete treatment on their own or with family members, so it’s very important to seek the right treatment center. At Seabrook, we customize our treatment plans to individual patient’s needs, so you know the help you’re getting is right for you or a loved one. Seabrook has rehabilitation centers in New Jersey (NJ), Pennsylvania (PA), and an outpatient center in New York (NY). Contact Seabrook today for any questions about drugs, addiction, and treatment.