What is the false positive concern when testing for Cocaine?

The concern regarding false positives when testing for cocaine is heightened with the use of coca tea or coca leaves. This is due to the fact that coca leaves contain alkaloids that are chemically similar to cocaine. When consumed, these substances can lead to a positive drug test for cocaine, even though the individual may not have used cocaine itself.

Coca tea, which is made from the leaves of the coca plant, is known to yield an amount of benzoylecgonine—a metabolite of cocaine—in the body. Thus, testing positive after consuming coca tea complicates the interpretation of drug tests meant to detect cocaine use, as it does not necessarily indicate illicit drug use.

In contrast, while poppy seeds, marijuana, and sertraline can also cause various types of drug test interferences or false positives, they do not specifically mimic or yield detectable levels of cocaine or its metabolites in the same manner as coca leaves. Poppy seeds are more commonly associated with false positives for opiates, marijuana is primarily tested for its distinct THC compounds, and sertraline may interfere with some tests but is not related to cocaine metabolism. Therefore, coca tea is distinctly recognized as a significant source of false positives in cocaine testing scenarios.