Using Home Drug Tests: Which Home Drug Test Strategy is Best?

by Dr. Deb Carlin

If you're not trained to recognize the signs of drug use or symptoms of drug use in your teen and are considering the idea of using home drug test kits to keep your teen drug-free, then you might be wondering what strategy is best for your teen and your family. At the risk of oversimplifying things, most kids fall in one of three categories.

The first is made up of kids who have never tried drugs. The objective of an effective strategy for teens in this category would be to keep it that way and reward their drug free choices. Celebrate the drug-free results of their home drug tests like you would an "A" on their report cards.

The second group is full of people I would refer to as experimenters. They've tried drugs but haven't become addicted to them or the culture that surrounds them yet. The objective of an effective strategy for them would be to deter future decisions to try drugs by tying rewards as well as consequences to the outcomes of their home drug tests. It makes sense that testing would be a bit more frequent than it would be for kids in the first group.

The third group of kids are those that are already addicted and most likely need professional help. They are committed to continued usage and avoiding detection. I encourage parents with kids in this situation to seek professional help. I often find that home drug testing programs are recommended by their counselors and treatment professionals as an after treatment program to improve accountability and help influence their better choices in the future.

If you want to know more about using home drug tests or picking out the best home drug test kit for your teen, or the steps to starting a home drug testing program, then there are plenty of helpful resources on the Internet. Program checklists, counselor approved strategies and video tutorials are must-see resources that are available to help you.

Copyright 2010 Test My Teen LLC.