Parents use test kits to screen kids for drugs

SALES of do-it-yourself home drug tests have risen with concerned parents using the kits to bust their children in Australia.

Distributors of Drug Alert, urine and saliva tests available in pharmacies, have reported an 80 per cent surge in sales from 28,000 in 2010 to more than 83,000 last financial year.

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Local distributor Frostbland's Craig Stewart attributed the spike to parents wanting proof their children were using drugs, employees in the corporate, transport and mining industries who undergo regular drug screening, and children in anticipation of their parents testing them. "Parents I speak to are at the end of their tether, they don't know what to do because they know something is wrong at home. Money is going missing, the child is secretive and not coming home at night," Mr Stewart said.He said the most popular Drug Alert products used by parents were urine test kits for marijuana and street drugs.

It costs $9.95 and takes parents five minutes to test their children for cannabis using the urine test kit, and $19.95 for the street drug test kit that identifies illicit drugs in the system, including methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, opium, heroin, speed, amphetamines, ice and ecstasy. But federal AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton said the tests could do more harm than good. Parents needed to consider the tests' false-positive and false-negative rates and what impact this sensitivity would have on the child.

Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia director Paul Dillon said drug testing companies were preying on parents' fear. "Evidence indicates less school-based young people use drugs than in the past. If your child is using illicit drugs and catching them and punishment doesn't make a difference, the next step would be to seek professional help," he said. "But where a parent has discovered their child has used drugs and there is a need to gain the trust back, testing kits may have some sort of place."

Child psychologist Dani Klein said testing a child for drugs could backfire on parents, leading to a breakdown of trust and communication. "You are becoming less of a parent and more of a policeman by becoming more intrusive, and it is not going to enable a more open relationship," she said. "Your child could become more clever and sneaky about hiding their drug use."
 

Source: news.com.au 

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