Legal CBD oil is no longer an exotic product for shamanic healers and alternative medicine aficionados. More Americans are loading up on hemp-derived tinctures, oils, and vape carts thanks to greater hemp legality and CBD education. Statistics suggest about 1 in 7 adults in the USA now use CBD regularly, for many medical purposes and stress relief.
CBD On A Drug Test: What Employees Need To Know
Although CBD oil is becoming the norm in America, employees are concerned whether their favorite supplement will compromise their job. Plenty of people swear by using CBD at work for enhanced focus, but there are questions about whether CBD products produce a “false positive” on marijuana drug screenings. After all, CBD comes from hemp, which is a part of the cannabis genus. So, will taking hemp oil before or during work negatively affect the results of your upcoming drug test?
Does CBD Oil Affect A Marijuana Screening?
Unfortunately, CBD products could make it appear like you’re smoking weed on a standard drug test. Even though CBD has a distinct chemical structure from the high-inducing delta-9 THC, both of these chemical compounds have the same “mother cannabinoid” called CBG-A. Therefore, CBD has a structure similar to delta-9 THC, which may send off a false alarm in a cannabis test.
But it’s not just CBD’s similarity with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) that sometimes triggers a drug analysis. If a CBD extract is “full-spectrum,” that means it contains ≤ 0.3% delta-9 THC. Although this content of THC is small and barely noticeable, everyone absorbs cannabinoids at different rates. For instance, people with a slower metabolism may have this small amount of THC swirling in their system hours or days after taking CBD oil. Cannabinoids like THC are fat soluble, so they stay in the body longer than water-soluble supplements. Researchers also know THC breaks down into metabolites like THC-COOH, many of which look similar to delta-8 and have super long half-lives.
Therefore, if someone takes a full-spectrum CBD product before going to work, it’s more likely their drug test will come out positive compared with people who used a THC-free CBD oil. However, since everyone absorbs CBD oils differently—and because every CBD oil has different concentrations of THC—it’s impossible to say it will always appear on a standard drug test. The chances your marijuana test will register “green” depends on dozens of factors, including how much CBD oil you take, whether it’s full-spectrum, and your body’s absorption rate.
How Do CBD Users Avoid A Positive Drug Reading?
There’s no way to 100% guarantee you’ll get a clean cannabis reading after taking any CBD product. However, people could take a few steps to minimize the odds CBD will crater their careers. First, employees should focus on broad-spectrum or CBD isolate products. Both broad-spectrum and isolate supplements have zero amounts of THC levels, so there’s no chance delta-9 will be in your system during a drug test. Well there are trace amounts but they should be so small that they are undetectable by third party lab test of those products.
Just don’t rely on a CBD company’s packaging to guarantee it has zero THC. The FDA still doesn’t screen hemp products, so some businesses advertising “zero THC” may still have some THC in their oils. Some studies suggest at least one-quarter of CBD extracts on the US market aren’t properly screened for THC, contaminants, or heavy metals. So, please be sure to only work with high-quality hemp vendors that offer transparent third-party lab screenings with their CBD oils. These unbiased drug tests prove the CBD edibles, tinctures, or oils you’re taking have no THC.
If you’re extra concerned about a positive drug screening, schedule your CBD oil sessions a few days before heading to the office. The longer you wait between taking CBD and going to work, the better odds most of hemp’s cannabinoids will be out of your system during your test. Also, be extra careful about how you dose your CBD products. Obviously, the more CBD you take, the greater chances you’ll perform poorly on a standard drug test. Microdosing CBD may be the way to go if you want to be extremely cautious, although the effects may vary from person to person.
Play It Safe When Using CBD Before Work!
Hopefully, as more companies understand the differences between THC and CBD, future marijuana tests will be able to distinguish these substances. At this stage, however, many drug screening technologies aren’t particularly sophisticated, and there are cases where people have lost their jobs due to CBD oil.
The only way to ensure you’ll pass a drug screening is to refrain from all hemp products for at least a few weeks before going to work. For those who use CBD regularly, it’s safest to use THC-free products with reliable third-party lab tests and abstain from these extracts a few days before a scheduled drug screening. While there’s no way to guarantee using broad-spectrum or CBD isolate will help you pass a drug screening, the odds of getting a positive drug test result are more favorable for people who stick with these products.
