Quote Originally Posted by FakeBoobsRule
Are you talking about Branall1 when you say Brandon as in the author of the truth behind drug testing thread? I closed it because while he gave some good info, he had a lot of crap in there too. This was one of the number one offending statements about almost all lab tests get a test strip then those that are "positive" (the actual word should be non negative) get the GC/MS testing. See he was a salesperson for a drug testing company and not involved in the clinical aspects of the company and that's why he was a little off with some things. If it is a lab test like Labcorp or Quest, they send the sample through immunoassay testing first, then any non negative samples go through GC/MS. Immunoassay technology is used in instant testing strips but they aren't using strips, they are conducting immunoassay through lab machines. Immunoassay is much cheaper than GC/MS but almost as accurate. So yes, to make more money they don't send every sample off to GC/MS, only those that fail immunoassay. Failing immunoassay requires confirmation thus why you will see me refer to samples that fail immunoassay as non-negative because they aren't considered positive until failing GC/MS confirmation. But they aren't running immunoassay tests with instant dip stick tests in most cases.

If they put your sample in a vail or two split sample vials, chances are it will be sent to the central testing facility where it will receive immunoassay and validity testing. If the sample fails immunoassay, then it will go to GC/MS. Most places are merely collection sites that send the sample to one central location that may handle a city or a region, depemnding on population, etc. There is no need to put the expensive testing equipment in each collection site.

An option available to an employer is the strip first however but it is rare. Usually this will be done like this : You go into the bathroom and void into the sample cup, you come out and some urine is used on a test strip right then and there in front of you, if the strip is non negative, the rest of you sample will be placed in one or two vials and sent off for the complete test as above. They can opt to use validity instant strip tests to check the validity on these too. Some probation officers who use instant strips will also use instant validity testing strips too.

See, a lot of what was in Branall's thread was talking about employment testing and you are talking about probation testing it looks like. If you think employers are trying to get out cheap, think about how cheap the government is trying to get out. Most probation officers will use the dip stick test then send off the non negative ones out for complete lab testing to save as much money as possible. If you want to know if they do validity testing with instant strips, you are going to have to figure that out by observing carefully or asking or whatever means.


If you can understand immunassay technology then you can understand the part with the faint lines. You can use a search engine to learn about immunoassay technology and monoclonal antibodies but basically they use genetically engineered immune system cells from mice to help mediate a chemical reaction in either the strip or the lab equipment. The antibodies "recognize" THC metabolites and if you at or above 50 ng/ml THC metabolites (I have never seen a test strip for other than the 50 ng/ml cutoff but in the lab immunoassay testing they can use 20, 50, 100 ) the reaction that forms the line won't occur and no line. Now most people will say that a faint line indicates you are close to the limit but still passing. There are some members that say the darkness of the line doesn't matter (I know Burnt Toast is one member that says that) but based on what I know about immunassay I do believe that one reason why a line might be faint is you are close to the limit but there can be other reasons why the line is faint. Now realize that the control line is usually darker no matter what you do and you may even be completely clean and still the line may be faint or not as dark as the control line.

If the line can be photographed or photocopied, it is a line.
Ok, Well, If I go into my PO and test with a faint line ( cause i believe she uses home tests) is she gonna send it into a lab to see? Or is that up to her. I mean if I pass technically bye the directions, but there is an indication that it was in my system recently, will she act on this?