Bato asks PDEA: Can bald men undergo hair follicle drug test?

"Can bald men and women undergo a hair follicle drug test?"

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa posed this question to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as he asked for updates on the proposals for the PDEA to consider this type of drug testing.

The PDEA is currently "not capable" of hair follicle drug testing, but the agency is "developing" it.

At the Senate finance subcommittee hearing into PDEA's proposed P3.838 billion budget for 2025, PDEA Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo shared that the agency's own research showed that hair follicles shaved from a person's body could not be used for drug tests.

"Ang problema po sa hair follicle test, pag ginupit ko na 'yung buhok ko, wala ka na. Zero na," Lazo said.

(The issue with the hair follicle test is that once I cut my hair, it's useless.)

This prompted Dela Rosa to ask if bald men like him could still undergo hair follicle drug tests.

"Eh ako, kalbo ako. Hindi ako qualified mag hair follicle test?" Dela Rosa asked.

(How about my case? I'm bald. Am I not qualified for a hair follicle test?)

Responding to the senator, a smiling Lazo said, "Wala, sir." (No, sir.)

Dela Rosa then asked if genital hair or nasal hair could be used for this type of drug test.

"Pag sinabing hair, sir, hair lang talaga sa ulo? Baka pwede yung hair sa ilong, hair sa genitals?" Dela Rosa asked.

(When you say hair, sir, do you mean only the hair on the head? Can we use the hair in the nose or the hair in the genital area?)

Lazo answered, "pwede sir lahat." (Any hair can do, sir.)

"[Pero] paano kung shinave niyo, sir? Kasi once na pinutol mo yun buhok mo, wala ng traces doon... Anybody who wants to do hair follicle test pero shaved na siya, useless na. Pati babae for example, wala na sya," he added.

(But once you cut your hair, there's no trace left... Anyone who wants to do a hair follicle test, but they've already shaved, it's useless. Even a woman, for example, it's useless.)

Asked on the efficiency of the hair follicle drug test, PDEA Laboratory Service acting director Angela Salvador said this kind of test could detect drug use in the past 90 days.

"The standard period for detection of drugs in hair, it would vary, but the average is 90 days," she said.

This is far from the urine test which only detects "recent use" of drugs.

According to Salvador, a drug test using urine could only detect methamphetamine hydrochloride or commonly known shabu two to three days after a person's last use.

For cannabis or marijuana, Salvador said it could be detected in urine drug tests up to one week from a person's last use.

However, Salvador said these time periods could vary as there are "a lot of factors" that could affect the result of the urine drug tests such as metabolism, among others. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News