A drug screen answers one narrow question: whether a substance is present in a person’s body, and which one. It does not say why, it does not measure addiction, and it does not decide anything by itself. Used well, it is a starting point for an honest conversation; used badly, it is an ambush. We only do it the first way.

What the service is

Screening at Safe Places uses standardised tools to detect the presence and type of a substance. It is carried out by clinical staff at the Kyambogo centre, and results are handled confidentially, shared only with your consent, where the law requires or permits it, or where safety makes it necessary.

Who uses it

Different people arrive at screening from different directions. Family members who need to replace suspicion with facts, in either direction. Employers whose policies require testing, or who want to help rather than discipline. People in treatment or recovery, where screening supports the work rather than policing it. And individuals who simply need documentation.

Consent and dignity

The person being screened knows they are being screened. That is our working principle, and it exists for a practical reason as much as an ethical one: treatment for substance use runs on trust, and a person who was tested by trickery arrives at any later conversation with that betrayal in the room. If you are a family member weighing a covert test, call us first; there is usually a better route to the same truth, and we can help you find it.

After a result

A positive result is information, not a verdict, and a negative one is not always the whole story either. What matters is what happens next: for many families and workplaces, the right next step is an assessment, where the result becomes one input among many. We will help you think about that step regardless of which way the result went.

To arrange screening or ask how it works, call +256 770 700944.

How starting care works — first contact, assessment, admission — is set out step by step on the Admissions page.