Urine tests for drugs are often given to people because of corporate policies or for insurance purposes before starting a job. Urine tests can detect many different kinds of legal and illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines. The only legitimate way for a person to pass a urine test is to not have any drugs in his or her system while taking the test. Otherwise, there are ways to make it appear a person has successfully passed a urine test, even though drugs are still in his or her system. In most states and countries that have urine tests, these methods are considered illegal. At the very least, they can get a person fired if found out.
Many times, a person looking to pass a urine test with clean urine will flush his system beforehand. This involves drinking a lot of water and other liquids, such as coffee or soda, to force himself to urinate more before the actual test. This can help to temporarily flush out any traces of an illegal drug that may show up during a test. Flushing usually leads to colorless or pale urine, and many drug testing agencies won't accept samples that appear to be flushed.
Some drugs are easier to flush out of the system than others. A similar method used to pass a drug test is called diluting, which is when a person will just directly add water to the sample. This can make traces of drugs hard to read during the urine analysis, but it also changes the temperature of the sample. Most drug testing and drug screening facilities notice colder or warmer urine samples as ones that have been tampered with.
Another common method for trying to pass a urine test is adulterating the sample. This involves adding a foreign substance into the sample that removes all evidence of a drug. Salt, soap, ammonia and lye have all been used to nullify drugs found in a urine test. This does not always work, and can be easily detected by more advanced tests.
A similar method used to try and fake a drug test is masking. Some legal drugs, like antacids and aspirin, have been known to mask illegal drugs such as cannabis and opiates. Just like adulterating, this technique is not very reliable, especially against more advanced drug tests. Some stores sell commercial products that advertise masking abilities, but the reliability of these products is frequently called into question and they are not legal in many places.
One of the most common methods used to pass a urine test is to use substitute urine. A drug user trying to pass a drug test will get urine from someone who is not a drug user and hide it on his or her body, usually in a balloon, plastic bag, or condom. When the time comes to take the drug test, the user empties the clean urine into the container and passes it off as his or her own.
Aside from the fact that this is illegal nearly everywhere, there are many problems with this plan. Urine outside of the body is not the same temperature as urine inside the body, and urine samples are always temperature tested. A urine sample that is too cold will almost always be suspect. Smuggling and depositing the urine into the sample cup is not easy either. Many drug testing facilities pat down applicants to check for smuggled urine, and some will even have employees present in the restroom to make sure the applicant is urinating into the cup.