Q: Hello, I was recently informed that I need to take a hair drug test before I can be hired for a new job. I don’t use any illegal drugs, but about two months ago my doctor prescribed me some painkillers for a small accident I was in. Is this something I should be worried about? What drugs are checked for in a hair follicle test?

Chris, Atlantic City, NJ

A: Hi, sorry to hear about your accident – hopefully everything is okay. Hair follicle testing can screen for a wide variety of drugs, but the most common will check for five substances: amphetamines, marijuana, cocaine, opiates and PCP. The test can detect drug usage within the past 90 days.

In your case, most painkillers are considered opiates. However, the opiates test used currently was originally designed to detect heroin and morphine – not the newer age prescription opiates. Light usage of these drugs tend to not get detected with the hair follicle test; however, heavy use/abuse has a better chance of showing up. Most likely your prescription will go unnoticed considering you were taking a relatively light dosage and not a consistent regular dose.

Even if your prescription does happen to be detected, you should still having nothing to worry about. Most drug testing companies incorporate a medical review officer (MRO) into their services. The purpose of the MRO is to make sure that positive results are not being caused by a legal prescription, such as in your case. Generally, if someone can provide proof that a prescription was filled in their name the result will report out as a negative.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your new job!