Test to Combat Illicit Drug Abuse by Teenagers

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By Siobhan Byrne - 2007-07-19
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Confirm BioSciences, a San Diego-based biotech company, announced today the introduction of HairConfirm™, a home-based hair follicle drug test kit that screens for cocaine (including crack cocaine), marijuana, amphetamine (meth/amphetamine and ecstasy), opiate (heroin and codeine) and Phencyclidine (PCP and angel dust).

HairConfirm™ is the first home test of its kind to provide accurate results and a detailed drug history report-detecting drug use for up to 90 days and identifying whether the user is a low, medium or high user. Moreover, it will definitively show if someone has not consumed illicit substances. Test results are available two business days after the lab receives the sample, the fastest turnaround time in hair testing.

HairConfirm™ enables parents to take a more proactive role in preventing their children's illegal drug use. With nearly one in 10 children over the age of 12 abusing drugs (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2004), addiction remains a grave problem among teenagers and often contributes to crime and violence, teen pregnancies, school dropouts and death.

A 2002 research by Teens Today 2002 shows that parents are the number one deterrent to a teen's decision to use drugs and 66 percent of parents are willing to use drug testing as a prevention tool. "HairConfirm™ is an important tool for

parents who want to prevent and combat drug addiction," said Zeynep Ilgaz, CEO of Confirm BioSciences. "Talking with your teen about drugs and taking preventive measures like hair drug testing can be a significant factor in preventing substance abuse."

Hair follicle drug testing is a highly trusted method of drug detection.

Unlike urine or saliva testing which can be tampered with and detectable for only up to two or three days, HairConfirm™ will screen for the five most popular drug classes to determine a 90-day drug history. Test results can show the trend of a habit over time and accurately determine what drugs were used. Marianne D., a concerned parent's fictitious name to ensure her privacy based in Garwood, New Jersey has tried HairConfirm™ and said, "…This has been the second time I've had to use this, unfortunately. I don't know what I would have done without it."

Based on research performed by Confirm BioSciences on current use of home-based drug testing kits by parents, hair drug testing is a preferred method of testing teenagers for drug abuse for many of the parents in cities like Newport Beach, Palo Alto, Carlsbad, Redondo Beach, Del Mar, Huntington Beach, Bellevue, Southfield, Newton, Wayne, Stamford, Troy, Wheaton, Norwalk, Austin, McKinney, and Edison.

Drug abuse by teenagers is not a problem limited to low income urban areas and marijuana use is not the only problem for most families.

The U.S. government is taking proactive measures for teenagers to be tested both at home and in school. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy recently announced that it will hold four regional summits promoting random student drug testing in public middle schools.