Drug Testing: Is It Keeping Up With Today's Drug Trends?

by Jermaine Galloway

Drug testing is one of the most important tools we have for identifying trends from our streets to our schools. The information gathered through testing helps shape treatment, enforcement, education, and prevention efforts. But accurate or not, why does it feel like, at the Boots on the Ground™ level, drug identification and testing from hospitals to laboratories aren't always keeping up with the rapidly changing drug market? The reality is that drug trends evolve much faster than many people realize, and the systems responsible for detecting those drugs might have to play catch-up. That doesn't mean they're doing a poor job, it simply means the challenge has become much more complicated.