posted 03-25-2000 05:11 PM            

Any drug prescribed or over-the-counter could affect the results of a polygraph test.
Generally, if there is an effect, the effect will be that the PDD Examiner cannot analyze the charts and will have to issue a "no opinion" or "inconclusive" result.

If you are asking if these drugs can allow a person to "beat the test" - the answer is "NO" because no drug can be selective as to which question(s) in the sequence that it will effect and which question(s) that it will not effect. It will either effect the entire question sequence or not at all.

Mostly, the drugs will either speed-up the examinee's system or slow it down. If it is a hallucinogenic or psychotropic drug it would most-likely cause erratic charts as well as erratic behavior and/or demeanor on
the part of the examinee which should be easily observable to even the most inexper- ienced "rookie" PDD Examiner.

If the examinee's behavior or demeanor is strange or erratic, the PDD Examiner should
be able to tell during the pre-test inter-
view, and especially during the acquaintence test, that the examinee is untestable and end the interview at that point.

If the examinee is taking the prescribed drugs, they should not refrain from taking them in order to take the examination. That could be detrimental to their health
and could also have an adverse effect on the examination since they would be entering the examination room in an abnormal condition (taking the drugs as prescribed supposedly has the purpose of making them maintain normalcy). It is the PDD Examiner's job to evaluate their testability. If they believe that the examinee is untestable that day
(even if it is for a case of a constant cough
or constant "sniffling" due to a cold), an
ethical PDD Examiner will suspend the examination even if it will mean that they will lose part or all of their fee.