Pubdate: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 Source: Register, The (MA) Copyright: 2005, Tri-Town Transcript Contact: http://www2.townonline.com/barnstable/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3597 Author: Joe Burns Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) PARENTS CAN TEST KIDS WITH DRUG TEST KITS MCAS may not be the only test that some Cape adolescents will need to be concerned about passing. New England Drug Test Consulting, an Eastham-based business, is marketing a home drug-testing kit for concerned parents. "I thought I could do well by doing good," says owner Nancy Zarchan, an accountant, who purchased the franchise from The Drug Test Consultant Inc., a nationwide company based in Los Angeles. The company provides kits that test for marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and opiates. The package, which can be purchased on-line for $52.95, includes one saliva test kit and one urine test kit. The tests do not have to be sent out for analysis and the results are available within two to five minutes, depending on the type of test. Ray Tamasi, president of Gosnold on Cape Cod, a Cape Cod addiction treatment center, says that while he understands why parents would want to know for certain if their child was using drugs, "I'm not sure what springing drug tests on your kids does to establish an open relationship." Tamasi cautions parents that testing alone is not the solution. "We use drug testing in our programs, but not very much. We use it randomly, but it's always in concert with more substantial treatment," he says "No single thing by itself is a magic bullet to resolve all the problems or to resolving the stress that families may have." Zarchan says her company provides more than a means of testing. "What we offer is a 60-page detailed program manual on how to deal with this problem, how to talk to your kids." A list of local agencies, rehabilitation centers and other professionals is also provided along with program counseling service. "We give them two free counseling sessions via e-mail through the home office," Zarchan adds. While Zarchan and others are providing parents with the means to test their children, other companies are marketing products on-line that will make drug use undetectable in these type of tests. These blockers are advertised as being effective for up to four hours. "That's why random drug testing is an antidote," Zarchan says. "He or she doesn't have time to mask." Tamasi warns that drug tests can also result in a false positive and that it sometimes takes more than the testing done at home or at a lab to be certain. "If a test comes back positive, we usually then send it out to a professional lab to substantiate it," Tamasi says. Negative tests are also sent to a lab for more sophisticated testing if it's suspected that the result was due to the use of a blocker. "They can pick those up," Tamasi says. "They can tell what kind of adulterant they used." While drug testing may be effective when combined with a comprehensive treatment program, Tamasi advises that the best drug plan is the one that's in place before the problem begins. "The issue is probably best addressed by connecting and communicating with kids at a very early age and having open discussions about it," Tamasi says. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom