I've heard that probation officers can send off a lock of a probationer's hair, and the lab can tell if he's been using a long list of drugs.

Does anyone here have any more info on this? How well does it seem to work?

Currently, we have 2 counties with only female P.O.'s. When they want a urine sample from a male probationer (the vast majority of their case load), they give the probationer a cup and wait outside the restroom door. The probationers are on their honor not to fill the cup with urine from some Clean Gene friend of theirs. I'm not sure this is always working as planned.

Wikipedia has a short bit on hair drug testing that says, in part:

quote:

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"There is a growing trend in major companies and law enforcement agencies to utilize hair analysis on account of its efficiency and reputation as the gold standard when considering test accuracy."

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If you scroll up the article a little bit they also have a chart for how long the drug is detectable.

A few years ago my son had to submit a hair sample for drug testing as a condition of employment with his bank.

Janette A

What if you've got real short hair? I guess that would be a way of ensuring that the time period available to be tested would be real small, like a month or so (one month = apx. 1/2 of hair growth). So if you start to do hair testing, I would not be surprised if you see a bunch of hippy types now sporting military-style hair cuts! lol

The kids call that the Brittney Cut !

Testing hair seems like a good idea so long as it is cost effective. A couple of weeks ago we had a probationer get caught with a "whizzinator." Imagine his surprise when his name, mugshot and date of birth appeared in a newspaper article about his "prosthetic." We figured it might dissuade some would-be whizzinator users.