August 8, 2012
Cliffside Malibu discusses detection of heroin with The National Enquirer.
Drug abuse AND addiction physicians tell The ENQUIRER exclusively that if MACAULAY CULKIN would undergo a hair follicle test it would provide evidence whether he’s used heroin in the past few months.
Yesterday as The ENQUIRER issued a statement calling Culkin out to undergo testing based on his reps denials, top doctors say Macaulay should undergo rigorous drug testing because he could possibly beat the blood test.
Experts have told The ENQUIRER that heroin generally leaves the circulatory system after four days after ingestion but a hair test will identify traces of heroin in the body for months afterward.
“Hair testing can detect many drugs including heroin up to 90 days,” Dr. Shannon Miller, of Cincinnati Ohio, founder of Forensic Addiction and Psychiatric Services, who has not treated the “Home Alone” star, told The ENQUIRER. “It’s a simple way to finding out if a person is still using this drug as it can be present in the hair shaft long term. The challenge is to determine the drug heroin from other opiates that may be present. This is not a DNA test, but a test for a specific substance.”
Dr. Damon Raskin,an addictionexpert with Cliffside MalibuTreatment Center, who has not treated Culkin, elaborated, “When heroin is used it gets into the bloodstream. From there it travels into all the hair shafts and can easily be detected this way. It often takes multiple uses of the drug to show up in the hair. It is a very accurate way to test for heroin and is not affected by hair dyes.
“The drug can be detected up to three months but really depends on how often the person is getting their hair cut.”
