Relapse is a real possibility after treatment for a substance use disorder, especially in the case of cocaine addiction. One study found that about 40 percent of those completing cocaine abuse treatment relapsed back to regularly using cocaine, or re-entered treatment due to a lapse.1 A sober living home is a bridge between full-time treatment and living on your own that can help prevent a return to substance abuse.
Keeping Sober Living Homes Safe and Effective with Drug Testing
When you’re in a sober living environment, drug testing will be a routine part of life there. Drug testing helps to discourage relapse and keep you accountable by catching any type of relapse early. Then, you can return to treatment to address missing sobriety skills.
How Early Detection Benefits People in Recovery
Besides the harmful effects cocaine use would have on the community within a sober living home, drug testing for cocaine and other substances on a regular basis preserves the well-being of the person who tests positive.
Residents who live in a sober home and use drugs are threatening their own physical and mental health. A new treatment plan needs to be implemented after a lapse so the client can re-commit to recovery, and drug testing helps reveal this need. Then, honest and effective work can be done to regain sobriety.
The Gap Between Detection and Safety in Sober Living
In the past, urine drug tests have been able to detect cocaine use over the prior two to three days.2 This allowed sober living residents to possibly use the drug without detection if a test wasn’t done within a few days afterward.
This dilemma creates a gap between a feasible testing schedule for people in a sober living home and ensuring the safety and health of everyone at the same time when cocaine addiction is involved.
New Drug Testing for Cocaine Detection Bridges the Gap
A new test may be the solution to bridging the gap. A report unveiled a new test for detecting cocaine at very low concentrations.3 Since the drug testing can be conducted at a cellular level, very small amounts of cocaine can be detected in the human body. Cocaine was identified at levels as low as 10 nanometers. One nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter. Due to this new technology, the detection window of only two to three days expands considerably.
A Commitment with Rewards
Living in a sober residence involves real work, particularly during the early days and weeks of recovery. A commitment to abstaining from cocaine can be a serious struggle at times. In spite of the initial difficulties and challenges, the rewards of a sober life make recovery a worthwhile effort.