Does Meth Show Up in Typical Drug Tests?
Meth. There are few words in the contemporary English lexicon that conjure up quite so many negative associations and for good reason. Methamphetamine has a long and tortured reputation as the kind of drug that sucks the life out of users. Whether you call it “crystal,” “crank,” “speed,” “ice,” “bennies,” “getgo,” “yaba,” or “poor man’s coke,” it’s highly addictive quality makes it bad news for recreational users. While there are some legit uses for methamphetamine, few of those typically intersect with a company drug test. Meaning that if you're afraid you're going to test positive for amphetamine, it's probably not because you're using it to treat ADHD. Instead, it's because you stayed up all weekend on a meth run and your pee could be sold on the street corner for a tidy sum.
How Did It Get to This?
Meth can trace its origins to the late 19th century, although it didn't see widespread use until the German military began providing it to soldiers and airmen during the 1930s. By 1940, however, that practice was stopped due to a high rate of negative incidents involving the drug.
The drug's street popularity in the West can be traced at least in part to the popularity in the 1950s of the inhalant Benzedrine.
Benzedrine was eventually produced in pill form too and became popular with beatniks, who called the pills "bennies." During the 90s the substance use exploded with the number of users rising to more than 5 million in the US alone.
If Meth Is So Bad Why is it So Popular?
First off, as we stated above, meth does have legitimate medical uses including as a treatment for ADHD. However, when talking about the drug, most people are referring to its incredible popularity as a recreational drug. Which raises the question: "Why is it so popular?" In short, because meth is one of the most effective drugs in existence when it comes to activating the reward center of the brain. It's that action/reward dynamic that's at the heart of addiction, and few other drugs offer the intensity of reward payoff that the substance does.
It's also relatively cheap and relatively easy to synthesize. All this means that users will follow the meth bus off the cliff if it means getting another reward and that's precisely where most wind up, over the cliff.
Side Effects:
Meth use produces an array of side effects, each a bit more gruesome than the next. Those side effects include:
Who Tests for Meth?
Any company that conducts standard five-panel drug tests is looking for amphetamines, so if you have meth in your system at drug testing time, it will come back positive. Also, if you're heading down the slide toward oblivion, it's going to become obvious to everyone you work with, so the company may only need the test to verify what they already suspect.
How Long is Meth Detectable in Urine?
Exactly how long meth remains detectable is a question that's difficult to answer and depends on a variety of factors including your weight, age, metabolic rate and overall health. In a normal, healthy young person who tries meth for the first time, it may be eliminated from their system in 2 to 5 days. For someone who is using it on a regular basis, it may linger in urine at detectable levels for weeks, even if you stop cold turkey.
Is There Any Way to Pass a Drug Test if You’ve Been Using Meth?
Since every standard drug test looks for amphetamines, passing a substance screening if you have meth in your system is going to require a workaround of some sort. Here’s a list of the usual suspects:
The Best Solution to Your Problem...
Synthetic urine was invented to help validate drug testing machines and today is widely available through the internet. In recent years it has become the most reliable and effective way to pass a drug test if you feel there's some reason you otherwise would not.
Even if you have reason to believe the submission process will be monitored, you can use a prosthetic delivery device like Monkey Dong for men or Monkey Whizz for women that will allow you to deliver the Quick Fix into the sample cup without raising suspicions.
If you believe meth is becoming a problem, there's no substitute for seeking help. If however, a drug test is looming and you're hard pressed for time you may want to consider what synthetic urine has to offer. If you do decide to go the synthetic route, just make sure to read the instructions on the Quick Fix package completely and follow all instructions to the letter.