DRUG TESTING FOR CANNABINOIDS
NEWS: 11/2010 - WALMART being sued for firing MMJ patient with brain tumor who used cannabis on his own time! Scroogle it.
The Analysis of Drugs in Biological Fluids - A book that provides methodologies and details.
Random Testing Policy - A sample policy from a corporate employer. Some information scattered about to help you study for YOUR drug test.
CANNABIS SCIENCE BOOK AWARD
Passing Drug Tests: The Gospel of Getting Clean for UA's by Kenn A Biscranium . - Coincidentally bumped into the author and he's a great guy. Buy his book at your LOCAL bookseller.
WHAT TO EXPECT: WORKPLACE DRUG TESTING & MEDICAL CANNABIS
Congratulations, you got the job! If you really want it you have already made the sacrifice and quit cannabis when they asked you to schedule an interview. I know it isn't right, you shouldn't have to, but that's how it is as long as folks continue not voting.
Often enough you'll be asked to start ASAP. Sometimes you can stall beginning a new job for several weeks after the offer. Some jobs require a background check for felonies, a physical, and a urinalysis. To buy as much time as possible you:
1) Have already quit cannabis when the interview was scheduled.
2) Take a couple days to decide whether to accept the offer. Employers usually want your quick response but will sometimes give you 2-3 days to decide.
3) Schedule your start date as far out as possible. Tell them you need to give your current employer 2-3 weeks notice so they can replace you. You might also need a week off to get yourself rested and refreshed so you can "start the new job refreshed".
4) Once the employer gives you the clinic info, schedule the drug test for the following week instead of the next day. Find a reason. Maybe you happen to be traveling or you need to arrange all time off with your current employer in advance. They'll respect that.
THERE IS NO CANNABIS PRESCRIPTION. Your doctor RECOMMENDS
cannabis in order for you to get a state-issued registry card. It is illegal for the
doctor to PRESCRIBE cannabis, even in Medical Marijuana states for Medical
Marijuana patients. Schedule I drugs cannot be prescribed - by definition
they have no medicinal use - there is no prescription, only a recommendation.
Marinol (Dronabinol, synthetic THC) is Schedule III and may be prescribed.
...If it's in your system
they will find it. (There are ways to flush but that's another chapter - intense exercise & diet
are best - see Passing Drug Tests: The Gospel of Getting Clean for UA's by
Kenn A Biscranium ).
As a failsafe a medical cannabis patient can ask the doctor to write
a prescription for Marinol. He can write a prescription for that but not cannabis.
Marinol is THC in sesame oil, and will make you fail a drug test, A Marinol cannot be legally
argued by the employer since it is FDA-approved, but a medical card CAN be argued against (again, cannabis is schedule 1 - no
prescriptions, Marinol is schedule 3 - prescriptions are legal).
Your doctor cannot legally write you a Marinol prescription simply for the sake
of passing a drug test so you need a medical reason. But if you tell your doctor that
your condition or your other medications (painkillers) cause you nausea, and that Marinol
will help you, then you are helping protect your doctor. You must give him or her a medically valid reason to write a Marinol prescription. The docotor wants to help you but you have to help them do things legally
by saying Marinol is for nausea or appetite stimulation (if you're under weight). MMJ-specific doctors are already compassionate so it's generally okay to mention that you may encounter a drug screen from a potential employer.
In the end, expect to be rejected for medical marijuana usage even if the people trying to hire you are compassionate. Compassionate people still follow company policy and fire you, or they too will get fired. Learn the system and use it to your advantage. Corporations are more concerned about federal laws and they could care less if a state law allows something that is still federally illegal. They follow OSHA and other federal regulations, so their policies are often based on what feds say. Sad but true. You will be discriminated against. You have to speak up to change the present. Being silent is a statement of acceptance of th eway things are right now. Familiarize others by presenting these new ideas. Start asking employers how they accomadate employees that are MMJ patients.
PROJECT: Send emails to the Human Resources departments of your 3 favorite (ha) corporations. Tell them you are interested in employment and would like to inquire about about their drug-testing policy and your Marinol prescription or Medical Cannabis Permit and cordially offer to provide the necessary medical/legal documents. Make them encounter this situation and become befuddled about the unfamiliar. Ask them how they can accommodate your medical requirements. Tell them that you would never come to work under the influence of any drug, that cannabis is only one component of a multi-angle therapy recommended by your doctor... that cannabis is consumed on YOUR time. Be respectful.
Educate others: I once spoke to a nurse to schedule a drug test. I asked her how they handle folks that are taking Marinol. She said I needed to bring in my MMJ permit! That was big red flag that she was uneducated about the issue. She thought doctor-prescribed Marinol was medical marijuana instead of a capsule prescribed by the doc.
How Long Does It Take For THC Metabolites To Eliminate?
Here's another form of drug testing discrimination against cannabis users that promotes use of hard(er) drugs. The cutoff limit for cannabis is 50ng/mL. Anything above that concentration in your urine is a fail (positive). Notice in the table below how you can have much higher levels of hard drugs detected in your system and still pass. SO...you can have higher levels of hard drugs in your system AND you can count on these hard drugs to eliminate from the body much faster than THC. Why treat pain with safe cannabis when addictive oxycontin can be present at a level 40x higher?
SYMBOL |
TARGET DRUG |
CONC. |
THC |
Cannabis |
50 ng/ml |
COC |
COCAINE |
300 ng/ml |
PCP |
PHENCYCLIDINE |
25 ng/ml |
MOR |
OPIATES |
2000 ng/ml |
MET |
METHAMPHETAMINE |
1000 ng/ml |
MTD |
METHADONE |
300 ng/ml |
AMP |
AMPHETAMINE |
1000 ng/ml |
BAR |
BARBITURATES |
300 ng/ml |
BZO |
BENZODIAZEPINES |
300 ng/ml |
TCA |
Tricyclic Antidepressants |
30 ng/ml |
EXPERIENCES WITH DRUG TESTS
2010 Report: A MMJ patient of average weight and BMI had quit exercising several months before the urinalysis. He claims to have been smoking 2-3 bowls of dispensary grade (12-18% THC, dry weight) cannabis every night for about 6 weeks before quitting. His diet was fairly good, avoiding "bad food". He was abstinent for 41 days before the test. Starting 5 days before the test he began "fat-loading", eating a diet high in fat and avoiding any exercise. He starting having two tablespoons of psylllium husk a couple hours after meals, twice a day. He made sure never to get hungry. These were attempts to slow down metabolism, stop burning fat, and keep fiber present to flush the colon and try to absorb any free THC metabolites. The physical/drug test was scheduled for end of the day so as to be able to flush all day. Diet on test day was a handful of vitamins (B-multi, C, E) , fish oil, 3 doses of psyllium husk and a nearly continuous supply of tea (diuretic) and fat: grilled cheese and sausage sandwiches, peanut butter, etc. Urine was clear all day. 4 hours before the test he slowed down on liquids to get some color and density back. 2 hours before the test he had a dose of psylllium, tea, peanut butter, and another mutli-vitamin to get the urine yellow and salty. The test sample passed the color, temperature, and gravity (density) test.
Despite being a medical marijuana patient he took a proactive approach and quit consuming cannabis since employers disregard medical marijuana licenses and abide by federal law, just like the insurance company providing the health benefits. This patient had the foresight to keep a prescription of Marinol handy (prescribed for "nausea" by his medical MJ doctor) as a backup legal defense should he fail the test. The Marinol was mentioned on the forms filled out. It was also mentioned to the doctor doing the physical as being for occaisional nausea. The doctor admitted Marinol may cause a false positive but as long as the guy's regular doctor had prescribed it for him, then the employer really can't legally discriminate for a false positive for marijuana. The result of the drug test was negative. He passed the test.
2009: Was hired as a temp. but directly through a large corporation. Temps. were not tested but if after 90 days they wanted to hire the temp. there would be a physical and drug test, then each year thereon. The people were disrespectful and unfriendly so I left. Majorly bad karma exist in these corporate jobs sometimes. It's sickening and keeps the head hopping from job to job. How do you be a scientist and keep hold of "The Way" when around so many self-interested people? Be true to your beliefs and know that the rest of your future will fall into place just fine. Always a struggle young man but keep the faith and smile, smile, smile!
2004-2008: Silas had quit smoking months before applying because he had been laid off and really needed work. So it was the responsible thing to do. (I sound like a geezer don't I?) He was expecting a drug test each year becasue there was a physical each year on the anniversary month of hire. So the first year he quit cannabis about 8 weeks out only to find there was no drug test. Ah man! Oh well, it's important to 'dry out' on a regular basis and get your body to baseline. So the third year came around and he prepared for a drug test just in case but it was only the physical. The fourth year he just kept smoking and all was well. Note here versus 2000-2004, most corporate type jobs, especially ones in which you may be doing something potentially dangerous such as driving, operating equipment or handling chemicals, they will give you a pre-emplyment drug screen and sometimes a physical. Some of those companies will keep testing every year and some won't. If there is an accident expect to be tested, so quit immediately if you happen to be involved in a workplace accident or injury.
2000-2004: Losi got a job through a temp. agency testing drugs (ha!) and there was no drug test unless the company decided to hire after 90 days. So a month into the job Losi decided the job was worthy it so Losi quit smoking. Took the test about 2 months later and passed. This company would have emplyees take a physical yearly on the anniversary of the hire date. Nice to have that info. So each year Losi would quit smoking about 6-8 weeks before the physical always passed. For the record, all of these physicals required annual pulmonary (breathing) tests which never showed impairment. Also for the record, Losi has never, ever smoked before work since finishing school.
2000: At the end of a 2 month trip climbing mountains Lief started what seemed like a good job as a temp. The temp agency said he'd have to pass a drug test. He started work and after a week they reminded him to complete the drug test if I want to keep working. He had ceased cannabis consumption about 3 weeks before starting the job. On test day (afternoon) Leif was loading water and I drank a bottle of Test-Clean per the instructions. The test was by dipstick (immunoassay). He provided the sample and the nurse came into the restroom and opened the dipstick. She dropped it on the floor. He told her that was unacceptable because the floor could have some drug addict's urine on it and make me test positive. She got really nervous and opened another dipstick. A positive test would give a + sign and a negative would give a - (minus) sign. After a few minutes the minus sign filled in BUT, one arm of the + portion was extremely faint. One more glass of water would have diluted to below 50 nanograms per milliliter and he would have passed. He tried to convince the nurse that it was a negative and she kind of believed him but she asked another nurse for a second opinion and they called it a fail. With him in the room they called the temp. agency and being a scientist Leif tried to convince them that the test was technically inconclusive. He demanded a GC/MS test. The GC/MS test is more sensitive but it would have required another sample at a later time so he banked on causing delay and being able to flush and dilute for the next sample. The temp agency said it was too expensive. The agency lady was compassionate but she had to follow corporation policy or she would lose her job. So he lost his job because he smoked a plant on his own time while camping weeks prior. If he'd been smoking crack instead he would have tested clean, since hard drugs are water soluble and soft drugs tend to be fat soluble and stay in the body much longer. Discrimination against what one does in the privacy of their home. Do you complain about cannabis being illegal? Did you vote?
1997: Veronica B. took a drug test which was urinalysis. This was apparently before the labs began testing for urine density to detect people trying to flush by drinking huge amounts of water. A clear urine sample was produced. The nurse was snotty and commented "That sure is awful clear". Veronica said "Yeah it is, must be all that water I've been drinking! But that's my urine.". She never got results and didn't get the job, whatever it was. Sh obviously moved on to better things.
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