How To Become A Drug Abuse Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a drug abuse technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a drug abuse technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.03 an hour? That's $29,180 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 64,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDrug Abuse TechnicianUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $29,180

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.9

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%

Asian 4.56%

Black or African American 11.43%

Hispanic or Latino 15.39%

Unknown 4.56%

White 63.21%

Gender

female 58.52%

male 41.48%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress level

9.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a drug abuse technician

Explore drug abuse technician education requirements

Most common drug abuse technician degrees

Bachelor's

36.2 %

Associate

30.3 %

High School Diploma

13.8 %

Start to develop specific drug abuse technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Drug Screens	17.46%
Alcohol Screens	17.46%
Drug Tests	14.33%
Test Results	11.51%
Vital Signs	8.15%

Complete relevant drug abuse technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New drug abuse technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a drug abuse technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real drug abuse technician resumes.

Research drug abuse technician duties and responsibilities

Work with outside counsel to develop patent and trademark portfolio and manage patent litigation.
Complete intake procedures for new clients including UA's.
Compose written reports of data collect from patient evaluation and present to department chief for thorough analysis of patient diagnosis.
Administer state require DWI protocols including breathalyzer tests and obtaining specimens.

Prepare your drug abuse technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your drug abuse technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a drug abuse technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable drug abuse technician resume templates

Build a professional drug abuse technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your drug abuse technician resume.