The Nida-5 drug test screens for marijuana, PCP, amphetamines, cocaine, and opiates, but not all drugs. It is commonly used by companies for pre-employment screening and routine drug tests. Home kits are available, but medical guidance may be more helpful.
The Nida-5 is also known as the National Institute of Drug Abuse Panel Drug Test-5, or SAMSHA-5. It is a test that uses a urine sample to look for the presence of several potentially illegal or mind-altering narcotics. The Nida-5 screens for marijuana, PCP or phencyclidine, amphetamines, cocaine and opiates (mainly heroin and morphine). Not all of these substances are illegal: Many attention deficit disorder medications may contain amphetamines. However, to get a basic idea of whether or not they are using drugs of some kind, people can turn to the Nida-5 in a variety of contexts.
While a Nida-5 panel can be obtained for home use and where it may come with instructions on reading the test, most often this test is used by companies and sometimes people in the medical profession. Companies can use the test as part of their pre-employment recruitment practices to screen candidates who appear to be regular users of an illegal drug. Since this test can be used in several legally prescribed drugs, you should learn how to present the information that justifies a positive response from the test. Similar information might be needed if employers performed routine drug tests on all employees, which is another common use of the panel.
Nida-5 screens out what it calls the top five drugs of abuse, but there are many drugs it doesn’t screen for that can still be abused on a regular basis. Even though drugs like hydrocodone and oxycodone are commonly abused prescription drugs, they don’t show up in Nida-5 results. Nor drugs such as prescription tranquilizers or most barbiturates. When drug tests need to be accurate, and especially when employees are in jobs that put the lives of others at risk, employers can select tests from 10 panels or more to ensure they rule out nearly all drug abuse.
Some people are interested in Nida-5 home use kits to check their urine drug levels after using a test drug, or to use the test on people in their home who they suspect may be using drugs. These are easy to find on the internet. However, in either case, while a test could certainly be purchased for such purposes, seeking medical guidance may be of more use.
Engaging someone to do a urine test may be more helpful in addressing the problem if drug use has occurred. It should be reiterated that the test does not screen for all drugs in every case, so it cannot rule out drug abuse. A doctor or laboratory has more extensive test materials and can look for the presence, through blood or urine tests, of other drugs that may have been used.
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