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NICOTINE TESTING

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Check.Nicotine Use Among YouthsNicotine.
Check. How Nicotine Testing Works
Check.Integrating Nicotine Testing into RSDT

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Nicotine Use Among Youths

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports from the Centers for National Disease Control and Prevention that "nearly 90 percent of smokers start smoking by age 18, and of smokers under 18 years of age, more than 6 million will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease."

The 2007 Monitoring the Future Survey indicated that over 21% of 12th graders, 14% of 10th graders, and over 7% of 8th graders used cigarettes in the last thirty days. Daily cigarette use was reported by over 12% of 12th graders, over 7% of 10th graders, and 3% of 8th graders used.

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How Nicotine Testing Works

After ingesting nicotine (through cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, etc.), the body breaks it down into metabolites which can be detected in a manner similar to EtG Alcohol Testing. The metabolite present is called cotinine and can be detected in saliva, urine, and blood. Cotinine appears in the body for several days after last use.

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Integrating Nicotine Testing into RSDT

Due to the ease of saliva testing, it is the most widely used test for nicotine. Many schools have added nicotine to the list of substances for which they test.

An example of such program is that of the Tallassee, AL City Schools which includes nicotine testing as a part of the RSDT program.

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