Editing Drug test (section)

{{Short description|Technical analysis of a biological specimen}}
{{Redirect2|Toxicology screen|tox screen|testing for toxic substances on organisms in general|Toxicology testing}}
{{Other uses|Drug testing (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2011}}
{{More medical citations needed|date=March 2025|reason = detection periods seem to lack medical sources}}
{{Infobox diagnostic
|  Name       = Drug test
|  Caption    = To minimize opportunities for tampering, a direct line of sight between the observer and the specimen bottle must be maintained during collection of a cemen sample.
|  ICD10      =
|  ICD9       =
|  MeshID     = D015813
|  OPS301     =
|  OtherCodes =
}}

A '''drug test''' (also often '''toxicology screen''' or '''tox screen''') is a technical analysis of a [[biological specimen]], for example [[urine]], [[hair]], [[blood]], [[breath]], [[sweat]], or [[saliva|oral fluid/saliva]]—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their [[metabolite]]s. Major applications of drug testing include detection of the presence of [[Use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport|performance enhancing]] [[steroid]]s in sport, employers and [[parole]]/[[probation]] officers screening for [[Prohibition (drugs)|drugs prohibited]] by law (such as [[cocaine]], [[methamphetamine]], and [[heroin]]) and [[police officers]] testing for the presence and concentration of [[alcoholic drink|alcohol]] ([[ethanol]]) in the blood commonly referred to as [[Blood alcohol content|BAC]] (blood alcohol content).  BAC tests are typically administered via a [[breathalyzer]] while [[urinalysis]] is used for the vast majority of drug testing in [[sports]] and the [[workplace]]. Numerous other methods with varying degrees of accuracy, sensitivity (detection threshold/cutoff), and detection periods exist.

A drug test may also refer to [[illegal drug trade|a test]] that provides quantitative [[chemical analysis]] of an [[illegal drug]], typically intended to help with [[responsible drug use]].<ref name=inde1>{{cite news|title=I spent my weekend testing drugs at a festival|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/secret-garden-party-drugs-service-i-tested-drugs-at-festival-service-for-everyone-a7155376.html|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=18 May 2017|date=25 July 2016|archive-date=May 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503064019/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/secret-garden-party-drugs-service-i-tested-drugs-at-festival-service-for-everyone-a7155376.html|url-status=live}}</ref>