Beware: Legal CBD Might Show Up on a Drug Test
Many states have legalized the use of cannabidiol products for medicine or recreation. What states may not have taken into account, though, is how their routine drug testing might affect legal CBD users.
To be clear, CBD in itself shouldn’t make you fail a drug test, states Dixie Botanicals. Instead, the manufacturer says testing picks up on a compound often found in CBD products called THC.
THC is the ingredient known to cause marijuana’s characteristic high. However, legal products should only contain trace amounts, making it undetectable “in most cases,” says Dixie Botanicals.
If you’re concerned about drug testing, the manufacturer does recommend staying away from it altogether.
Drug Testing with Legal CBD
Other websites are less clear about how CBD products can influence drug testing. That fact may be misleading some people whose jobs depend on a clean drug history.
Recently, one new user in Tennessee was sure it wouldn’t affect testing for her new job promotion.
Mai Hamric worked with her city’s art department, performing community projects centered around her love for art.
Hamric enjoyed her work with the kids and local community, says the Daily News Journal.
However, Hamric’s job ended abruptly after receiving a routine drug test for a new promotion for which she was eligible. Unfortunately, the drug test came back positive even though she was using legal cannabidiol for medical purposes.
While using the products in Tennessee is legal, the city’s policies and drug testing did not account for a situation like Hamric’s.
The city is a certified Drug-Free Workplace with higher drug-free standards that its employees must meet, reports the Daily News Journal.
Those standards didn’t leave much place for Hamric, who resigned from her position shortly after the incident.
For the sake of other legal CBD users, Hamric’s situation does need a closer look. Should states who allow medicinal or recreational marijuana rethink their drug testing policies?
Of course, testing should identify illicit drug use, but should people choosing legal CBD suffer career consequences?
The situation colors yet another gray area in the debate around legal marijuana.
How CBD Products Affect You
One of the big problems with legal CBD is that the US Food and Drug Administration does not recognize marijuana as a valid medical treatment.
The FDA attests that the drug needs more research to prove its benefits, and the organization supports such valid research.
However, that fact means legal users have no standard dosage for CBD products. People must rely on manufacturers’ recommendations or other people’s untested advice.
These may not be ideal guidelines to pass routine drug testing.
In addition, neuroscientist Nick Jikomes from Leafly says that CBD reacts with different receptors in the body.
According to the scientist, those reactions can differ from person to person. They can even differ for one person as the body changes over time.
Until officials can resolve legal CBD dosage and drug testing policies, users should beware.
If passing a drug test is vital to your work or everyday life, you shouldn’t risk even legal cannabidiol.
Medical marijuana is new territory for state and work policies, and they may need to time to work out the kinks. Or to wait for research investigations to conclude a proper dosage.