by Audra H Anders for The Aha! Connection
The Marketing Manager from LifeHope Labs in Sandy Springs, Emily Brook, reached out to me in December and I finally made time to go visit them last week. Their CEO and I have a mutual friend and they piqued my curiosity when he told me he came out of retirement to get involved with LifeHope. The reason: his high school-aged daughter lost a friend to a vape related incident.
Vaping is all over the news and I’m seeing stories pop up in many of my guilty pleasure TV shows (New Amsterdam, Grey’s Anatomy) about kids experiencing life threatening trauma to their lungs and their parents didn’t even know they had ever vaped. The dad on the Grey’s Anatomy story said he knew he smelled “French toast” often but had no idea it was a vape flavor his athletic high school basketball star son was smoking in his bedroom.
On my tour of LifeHope Labs I learned drugs are being developed that mock the effects of THC (the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects). Apparently, these mock THC, AKA synthetic cannabinoids are present in many vaping products that can be purchased at gas stations in our community. Since these synthetic cannabinoids are not THC, traditional drug tests do not detect anything. Drug tests are designed to screen for the presence of THC or the primary metabolite of THC, carboxy-THC. For a person to test positive, they must have consumed a cannabinoid product containing THC, which can stay in the body for up to 11 weeks.
LifeHope Labs recently released a confirmatory drug test product that tests for synthetic cannabinoids that are present in vaping products. With the topic of vaping being so prevalent in the news and in the community, they want to provide parents another tool in their toolbox to detect life-threatening drugs of abuse. LifeHope wants to be able to get the word out there about this test kit to prevent further harm to our community’s youth.
Vape users could be unknowingly or perhaps willingly ingesting harmful substances that can wreak havoc on their bodies. Detecting these harmful toxins and synthetic drugs starts with accuracy and a conversation. The LifeHope Test Kit can help. LifeHope is based in Sandy Springs and is a fully accredited lab that offers a confirmatory drug test that is ordered discreetly online from home. You ship the test back to LifeHope once ready, and can have results in as little as 24 hours.
You can order your kit here and find so much more helpful information.
You can also follow LifeHope on Facebook.
