While Alcohol is not part of the standard "NIDA 5" drug test, it is not uncommon to test for in some situations. It is less common in pre-employment tests, but is relatively common for parole testing or random on the job testing, especially for safety sensitive jobs.

Urine testing for Ethyl glucuronide (EtG), a direct metabolite of alcohol, offers an extended window for detecting consumption. Published studies differ on detection period, stating ranges from 80 hours to up to 5 days. Because this test requires expensive equipment to perform it is not widely used, but as cost comes down, this may change.

As of November 2002, it appears that alcohol use can not be detected with a hair test.

Drug Testing Vault