What Drugs Are Not Tested In a 5-Panel Drug Test?

Drug Testing:  What is in a 5-Panel Drug Test vs a 9-Panel Drug Test?

Many employers run only a standard 5 panel drug test on applicants and employees.  Often times, these employers are ordering drug screening with an out-of-date drug screening policy. My advice to those employers is this…just as the world grows, evolves and changes, so should the panels tested in your drug screening policy.

Here is what is included in a 5-Panel Drug Test:

• Marijuana/Cannibas (THC)
• Cocaine (COC)
• Opiates (OPI)
• Amphetamines (AMP)
• Phencyclidine (PCP)

What drugs am I missing if I am only ordering a 5 panel drug screen on my candidate/employee?

Here is what is included in a 9-Panel Drug Test:

• All of the drugs listed above plus,
• Benzodiazepines aka “Tranquilizers” (Valium, Xanax and many more) – one of the most prescribe drugs in the U.S
• Barbiturates – treat anxiety, epilepsy and sleeping disorders (Secobarbital, Butabarbital and more)
• Methaqualone / Quaaludes– aka “Disco Biscuits”- Outlawed in the U.S due to the high percentage of addiction.
• Propoxyphene– Opioid pain reliever sold under many different names (Darvon, Darvocet) as it is a relative of the drug Methadone

Obviously the more panels tested, the lower your liability becomes as an employer.
MBI Worldwide Background Checks & Drug Screening can offer both a Lab Based 9 Panel Drug Screen and an instant product.

The Instant product not only gives you the standard 9 panels of abuse, but will also expand out and detail the specific drug causing the positive opiate.  Many opiates are made up of different molecules so this variation will ensure that “if” the applicant is positive for an opiate and they have an order from a doctor, that the prescription medication is what caused the positive result and not an illegal drug.

If you have questions about the drugs tested in different panels, please reach out to MBI Worldwide’s Drug Screening Department at drugscreens@mbiworldwide.com.

To view the difference between a 5-Panel Drug Test and a 10-Panel Drug Test, please click here!

Nicole Lacy, Drug Screen Coordinator
MBI Worldwide Background Checks & Drug Screening
www.mbiworldwide.com