Hi Beth. re: At home drug testing....
As others here have said, there are kits you can buy from various places that will tell you
if any tested substances are present. However, what they will NOT tell you is the levels of the substance present. All of the OTC tests I tried with McWeedy also had the disclaimer that they showed "Negative", and "Possible Positive".
Since THC and other substances stay in your system a while, you do have a problem with knowing if your child has done anything recently. What you need to know are the levels of the substance in the urine sample. Most OTC companies can give you this info as well, but you have to send in the urine sample to their labs. The kits usually have a coded index card, sticker, whatever, that you attach to the sample (for anonymity), and you call in a week later, punch in the ID code for the kit you sent in, and you get the actual numbers back.
What you want to see is the numbers going
down. That's a good sign that your child has stopped using. Be sure and read the kits before you buy them. Some of them will do the lab tests for free (just send them in), and some will charge extra.
Also, be careful and follow the directions EXACTLY. I messed up two tests before I realized what I was doing wrong. Caused all sorts of problems with my little WeedWhacker (not that he didn't deserve them for other things, though
).
Finally, be warned that there are several "beat the test" websites and solutions out there on the web. Everything from special "smoothies" sold at your local smoothie mart to desperate kids drinking a diluted mixture of water and bleach to throw off the test. The most common, though, is if a kid knows he/she's about to be tested is to drink a ton of water to dilute the sample. Professional drug testing companies test for diluted samples, but some OTC kits may not pick up on this (unless you send in the sample to their labs).
One other avenue would be to talk to your family doctor, and have the drug tests administered through them. This always seemed to work better for us, and we were also lucky enough to have our medical insurance help with the costs.
Hope this helps. Ultimately, OTC testing did nothing for us, and told us nothing that we didn't already know. Testing at the doctor's office was more accurate, but still only confirmed what we knew - by that time, McWeedy was beyond denying his actions, and had graduated to daring us to do something about it.
But that's just us. I know other parents that swear it keeps their kids on the straight and narrow, but I've also read about some kids who are so scared of getting caught they do really stupid things to "beat the test". In the end, it's a judgment call about whether you get what you really want out of the tests. There's no right answer, only the one that works for you.
Best of luck for you and your daughter. We'll be praying for you.
Mikey