Pubdate: Mon, 01 Jan 2001
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Sacramento Bee
Section: Human Resources
Contact:  P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento CA 95852
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Author: Melanie Payne, Bee Staff Writer

HAIR DRUG TESTING GETS KUDOS FOR DIGNITY, RESULTS

Jill Kulick recalled the indignity of a drug urine test when she got
her job as the vice president of human resources for iMotors, an
Internet-based used car retailer with operations in the Sacramento
area. So when Kulick got the top job for recruiting and hiring in the
company, she decided to do something about it.

Potential employees at iMotors still must participate in a drug test
but it's done in a less obtrusive way -- a little snip of hair.

"We wanted to create more dignity in the hiring process," Kulick said.
It also gives better results, she claimed.

"You can clear up your system pretty quickly for urine testing,
whereas hair goes back for a longer period of time. And if you're just
a party user on a weekend, it won't screen you out."

Bill Dausey, vice-president for sales at Psychemedics, a hair-testing
company based in Massachusetts, agrees that hair drug testing is a
good way for companies to do their screening.

"Hair acts as a tape recorder," Dausey said. That way, long-term drug
use can be detected, foiling the weekend-cleanup job candidate. The
tests can be used to detect a wide variety of drugs, including
cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

Dausey said that the test requires only a 1 1/2 inch long lock of hair
about the diameter of a shoestring. Most people have that much at the
base of the neck, he said. But if they don't, then the test gets a
little more personal. They take the sample from the armpit.
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