Opiates Testing

Examples: Morphine, heroin, codeine (as found in many prescription cough
medicines, such as Robitussin-AC, and pain medications, such as Tylenol
#3, Phenaphen #3 & #4, Empirin #3 & #4), oxycodone (Percodan),
hydromorphone (Dilaudid), hydrocodone (as in many prescription cough
medicines).

Medical uses: Relief of moderate to severe pain, treatment of persistent
cough (codeine), treatment of diarrhea.

Effects attractive to abuser: Euphoria, sedation.

Adverse effects: Drowsiness, apathy, confusion, nausea, vomiting,
suppression of breathing reflexes, constricted pupils, physical addiction,
coma, death.

How abused: Pills taken orally; solution injected intravenously or
subcutaneously; occasionally snorted into the nose in granular form.

Typical urine detection cutoff level: 300 ng/mL

Period detectable after last dose: heroin, 1-4 days; meperidine, 4-24
hours; morphine, 84 hour minimum

Notes: This family of drugs undergoes extensive chemical changes due to
the normal detoxification processes of the body. Therefore, the drug
detected in the urine screen may not be the same as that originally taken
by the subject. For instance, both heroin and codeine are converted to
morphine before excretion in the urine.

Substances causing false positive results: none reported; however, foods
containing poppy seeds (the natural source of traditional opiate drugs)
will produce true positive results when screening the urine of an otherwise
innocent subject.