Reporting Manager at Lextox Donna Muldoon joins host David Opie in the latest Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast to discuss the practicalities of drug and alcohol testing on hair samples. If you ever wanted to understand how the drug and alcohol tests family practitioners instruct happen, this is the podcast to listen to.
At the outset of the discussion Donna explains how the process works; from instruction, through to collection and testing. She describes the process as like a tape recorder; hair can provide a useful history of drug and alcohol usage over time.
Donna explains some of the opportunities and pitfalls presented by drug and alcohol testing and the value they can add to court proceedings. She explains what can impact results; from physical factors like the cyclical nature of hair growth, to environmental factors like the way in which the drugs are taken.
At each stage, she adds, thorough checks are undertaken to ensure the results are legally defensible. It is also the responsibility of the drug and alcohol testing companies to help family lawyers and the courts understand the results, with Donna keen to stress they simply present evidence to the court. They are not there to provide commentary on the suitability of an individual to be a parent for example, that is for the courts to decide.
Drug and alcohol testing is not a silver bullet and Donna provides an excellent overview of the process for practitioners.
The Today’s Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. Subscribe to Today’s Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector.
