MTD, PPX, AMP, MAMP, and MOP are the acronyms of hazardous and illegal drugs - Methadone, Propoxyphene, Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, and Morphine, respectively.
These drugs are among the most abused drugs in the United States and are known to threaten one's career and, if overdosed, can even lead to irreversible consequences and death.
Let's look at the fundamentals of drug testing and what each of these drugs means on your drug test.
Table of Contents:
- What is Drug Testing?
- How Often Are Drug Tests Conducted?
- Prominent Drugs That Are Focused On Drug Test
- Methadone (MTD)
- Propoxyphene (PPX)
- Amphetamine (AMP)
- Methamphetamine (MAMP)
- Morphine (MOP)
What is Drug Testing?
Drug testing is a medical process conducted in every professional institution or workplace to confirm whether the particular candidate is free from drug usage.
Through drug testing, a medical professional can conclude whether the candidate had taken any illegal drugs. The most commonly used specimens to test for the drug are urine, saliva, hair, blood, or sweat.
Initially, a preliminary drug test with high quality drug testing kits is conducted. If it comes out as positive for drugs, then the tester would do the confirmatory test because there are higher chances that the candidate might have been declared false-positive.
Drug testers conduct a confirmatory lab drug test using high-end medical equipment like Liquid Chromatography (LC) or Tandem Mass spectrometry (TMS).
Drug testing does possess some significance because it can detect the drug's presence and period of consumption. Each drug has a specific period up to which it can be detected in any bodily fluids or dead cells.
A urinalysis can detect your drug usage before 4 days to 4 weeks, a saliva drug test before 3 to 7 days, and a hair drug test can detect drug intake before a maximum of 90 days.
How Often Are Drug Tests Conducted?
Normally, a drug test is conducted under certain circumstances. They include
- Pre-Employment
- Policy endorsement of the company
- Post-accident
- Suspicion
- Fitness test during international sports activities
- Child Abuse
It is common that if you enter into an organization for employment or any institution that deals with professionalism, they have certain principles to keep their institution and employees clean. These incidents, as mentioned above, require a drug test.
But the fact is all these organizations do not test for the presence of all the drugs. They check for prominent drugs, while some organizations focus only on a specific drug, leaving others without priority.
Some organizations may use high-quality drug testing kits, while others may prefer lab-based drug testing.
The most prominent drugs focused for any drug test include
- Methadone (MTD)
- Propoxyphene (PPX)
- Amphetamine (AMP)
- Methamphetamine (MAMP)
- Morphine (MOP)
- Cocaine (COC)
Drug tests differ from one organization to another based on the severity and the guidelines of the organization. Some government institutions may check for MAMP consumption in a person as a priority, while others consider COC.
It is based on the hot seat, but we cannot deny that all the drugs mentioned above are lethal and hazardous to a human's health if taken intentionally or unintentionally.
What Does MTD Stand For On A Drug Test?
The abbreviation of MTD is Methadone. Methadone is clinically expressed in different forms, but when it comes to MTD drug test, it means Methadone drug test.
Methadone is a clinical drug recommended to relieve pain. It is a medication used to treat opioid withdrawal syndrome and heroin addiction. Despite having the same opioid structure, Methadone does not produce euphoric effects and has few withdrawal symptoms.
Precisely, MTD on a drug test means - the drug testing kit or lab drug test can showcase the Methadone metabolites present in the system at that particular time.
Methadone does not usually show up on the drug test but can be traced on a drug test if present above cut-off levels.
Methadone can be detected with one of its prominent metabolites, EDDP (2-Ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine), reflecting on a drug test.
Patients who are taking Methadone for medical purposes excrete both Methadone and EDDP in their urine.
Drug testers identify the ratio of Methadone to the EDDP in the urine. The levels of Methadone may vary based on prescription. If it exceeds the cut-off levels prescribed by the SAMHSA, then it is drug abuse.
Employers do not conduct an MTD drug test specifically to identify methadone abuse in employees, but they may conduct a 12-panel or 17-panel drug test that might identify methadone abuse along with other abused illegal drugs.
What is PPX on a Drug Screen?
PPX Drug Test
It is a mild form of the narcotic analgesic drug prescribed to patients who have undergone surgery to alleviate pain. The structure of PPX is similar and related to the structure of Methadone.
It is an oral drug, and its effects take nearly an hour or two to reach its peak. Excessive use of PPX can lead to physical and psychological dependence. DEA had placed this drug under schedule IV because of its severity when it gets overdosed. The side effects of overdose include drowsiness, constipation, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, etc.
PPX stands for "propoxyphene". Propoxyphene is an opioid pain medication that was once prescribed for the relief of mild to moderate pain.
While propoxyphene itself may not be routinely tested in standard drug screens, opioid drug tests typically target common opioids like oxycodone, morphine, codeine, and heroin. If propoxyphene use is a specific concern, a more specialized test may be necessary.
PPX may stay in your urine for 6 to 48 hours and can show up in your urine drug test. PPX will not show up in a standard 5-panel drug test, but it might show up in a 10-panel or 12-panel drug test. There is a possibility that PPX may show up in a saliva drug test if tested shortly after use.
What does AMP stand for in a drug test?
AMP typically stands for amphetamines. Amphetamines are a class of central nervous system stimulant drugs that include substances like amphetamine, methamphetamine, and MDMA (Ecstasy).
Drug tests often include a panel for amphetamines to detect the presence of these substances in a person's system. Testing positive for amphetamines may indicate recent use of drugs like Adderall, Dexedrine, or illicit substances containing amphetamines. AMP is included in all drug test panels - be it 5 panel or 10 panel drug tests.
Like AMP, MAMP also affects the central nervous system. It has been identified for its illegal usage and prohibited since the 1980s. There are large amounts of MAMP being sold out illegally within the United States.
In extreme cases, over-dosage of MAMP may lead to a euphoric high, aggression, and even psychosis. Physicians direct patients under chronic opioid therapy to take the drug at certain levels.
The urine test can trace this drug. If the drug levels exceed the DEA limit, it is considered drug abuse, leading to threatening consequences.
What does MOP stand for in a drug test?
MOP stand for "Morphine" in a drug test. Morphine is a pain reliever and a metabolite of heroin and codeine. It is one of the constituents of poppy seeds. It is prescribed for pain relief by the physician on a certain dosage not to develop a dependency on the drug.
Morphine is one of the natural opioids and can show up in a standard urine drug test, which is not a threat unless it is within the cut-off levels. It may cause restlessness, nausea, and vomiting. Overdosing may cause respiratory depression, drowsiness, at times, coma, and death.
Final Words:
The drugs mentioned above, mostly used as sedatives and pain relievers, are prescribed legally by healthcare professionals for certain conditions. These medications have the potential to be misused to get desired effects.
People tend to overdose on these medications without being aware of their potential undesirable consequences resulting in complications. Some people also abuse these drugs to get euphoric effects.
Using these drugs for the intended purpose under prescribed doses would be beneficial rather than increasing the dose to get desired effects leading to complications.