Hi all, I read this thread the other day and didnt make any comment as it seemed that it was getting slightly antsy.... However!, I bumped in to someone today and thought I'd now comment as it's just a cautionary tale about the reliability of hair strand tests.
I used to manage a rehab for adults where they could stay with their children to try and rebuild their lives (drug/alcohol free). We worked alongside children's (social) services as the children would often be subject to court orders. As part of the latter, the parents would often be required to do hair strand tests to demonstrate their abstinence.
I bumped in to someone today who we used to accommodate. Happily she has been abstinent for 4 years and has her children on a f/t basis but both are still subject to court orders. She had a hair strand test done last year which came back positive stating sustained alcohol, cocaine, heroin & cannabis over 6 months. She was absolutely adamant that she hadn't used anything and her solicitor asked for a second test to be carried out. This (and 13 others) came back negative.......... She is now involved in a court case against the company who initially carried it out.
The severity of such mistakes and the blind faith people put in these things is worrying - her children could have been removed from her and put in to care if her solicitor hadn't believed her.
As I said, purely a cautionary note to believing these things - mistakes can and do happen.
I used to manage a rehab for adults where they could stay with their children to try and rebuild their lives (drug/alcohol free). We worked alongside children's (social) services as the children would often be subject to court orders. As part of the latter, the parents would often be required to do hair strand tests to demonstrate their abstinence.
I bumped in to someone today who we used to accommodate. Happily she has been abstinent for 4 years and has her children on a f/t basis but both are still subject to court orders. She had a hair strand test done last year which came back positive stating sustained alcohol, cocaine, heroin & cannabis over 6 months. She was absolutely adamant that she hadn't used anything and her solicitor asked for a second test to be carried out. This (and 13 others) came back negative.......... She is now involved in a court case against the company who initially carried it out.
The severity of such mistakes and the blind faith people put in these things is worrying - her children could have been removed from her and put in to care if her solicitor hadn't believed her.
As I said, purely a cautionary note to believing these things - mistakes can and do happen.
