The Home Drug Test Kits

How do you prevent a child from becoming a drug addict and ruining his or her life as well as those of the family?  Is the answer a home drug test?  No.  The answer is open, honest and intelligent communication. In  other words, parents need to communicate with their children about drugs.

Experts advise an open and ongoing dialog consisting of multiple discussions about drug abuse and its harmful effects on your children. Note that dialog refers to input and feedback from both parents and children.  Which means parents need to “bone up” on drug information.  Particularly facts regarding how drugs can interfere with a child’s school work, health and sports and how getting into legal trouble with drugs can effect their future. Note that communication needs to start at an early age and more and more information needs to be discussed as child gets older.  Also remember that you need to confront with facts, not judgments.  Healthy communication referring to dialog between children and parents has been proven to be a deterrent to drug abuse.

Communication is vital because adolescents are vulnerable to drug addiction for many reasons.  Scientists believe that because impulse control is not mature, children will take a drug if offered t them.  They are willing to try any “high” available and believe there will be no consequences. Often a teen has an attitude of “it wont’ happen to me”.  Talk to your teen about the consequences of using drugs.  Cite real world examples of  people in the neighborhood, school or community.  Set clear rules, consequences and expectations with your child.  Don’t be afraid to consider a home drug test program implementation if you feel it’s necessary.

It is very likely that your children will be pressured by friends and or acquaintances to try drugs or alcohol.  Teens who feel pressured into using drugs have an legitimate “out” if parents randomly home drug test.   This  can make it much easier for your child to reject drug offerings from friends and peers.

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Vicodin is a derivative of opium, which also used to manufacture heroin. It is the most widely known brand name for a combination of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Some of its generic equivalents include brand names Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Panacet and Zydone.

Vicodin Prescription:

Vicodin is one of the most widely prescribed opiate medications for treatment of moderate to severe pain in injury, illness, surgery or a chronic condition across the globe. Overall, it has been reported as an effective, well tolerated opioid for analgesic purposes. It is quite inexpensive, with a mild side effects profile. It is one of the most favored prescribed pain relievers as allergic reactions are highly unlikely with Vicodin.

Vicodin Abuse:

It is estimated that in 1999, 4 million people were using prescription drugs non-medically and out of these 4 million, 2.6 million misused pain relievers the most common of which is Vicodin. In 2000, the National Institute on Drug Abuse listed Vicodin as an emerging recreational drug. Its use has risen steadily each year, and has now achieved the status of no longer being emerging. Vicodin has become one of the most commonly abused prescription medications. In 2006, USA Today reported that more emergency room visits are made by Vicodin and other prescription drugs abusers than by all other illicit drug abusers combined.

Effects of Vicodin Abuse:

Some of the common side effects of Vicodin abuse include confusion, nausea, vomiting, lightheadedness, dizziness, drowsiness, redness of the face, and temporary changes in vision or mood, along with infrequent constipation. These effects can be subdued by drinking a lot of water and consuming fiber rich foods on daily basis.

Over a period of time, effects of Vicodin abuse become more serious and more damaging. There may be cardiac arrhythmia leading to speeding up or slowing down of the heart rate. As Vicodin use grows, its effects can be characterized by blurred vision, hallucinations, and severe confusion.

Vicodin may interact with many other drugs if taken in conjunction, like, various sedatives, tranquilizers, antidepressants, other analgesics, antihistamines, anti-anxiety & anti-spasmodic drugs to name a few. Because of this high potential for drug interactions, it is highly recommended to avoid alcohol, which can increase drowsiness and dizziness, and may cause damage to the liver, and other medications containing acetaminophen.

As with other Opiate drugs, Vicodin withdrawal symptoms include restlessness, muscle pain, bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, goose bumps, involuntary leg movements, watery eyes, runny nose, loss of appetite, irritability, panic, nausea, chills & sweating to name a few.

Vicodin Testing:

When consumed, some amount of Vicodin remains unchanged in the body while rest of it is metabolized to different secondary products called metabolites. A diverse array of techniques is available nowadays to detect these unchanged Vicodin or Vicodin metabolites, such as:

•Blood sampling for Vicodin/metabolite testing

•Urine based Vicodin/metabolite testing

•Hair follicle based Vicodin/metabolite detection

•GC/MS based Vicodin/metabolite detection

•Vicodin/metabolite-specific antibody based diagnostic kits

GC/MS or Antibody based screening can be done on any of the blood, urine or hair follicle samples. Some companies have also come out with rapid screening kits for home use which can be used without any previous expertise.

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