CBD Use & Drug Testing: What Employees & Employers Need to Know About CBD & Routine Drug Screens by Joy Stephenson-Laws JD

There have been some reports recently about people failing drug tests while taking CBD. These are usually blood tests conducted by employers and, in some instances, employees have lost their jobs.

• One woman in Pennsylvania, for example, who was taking CBD to help with knee pain, lost her job after testing positive for cannabinoids. (Of the hundreds of compounds found in the cannabis plant, around 60 of these are collectively known as cannabinoids).

• In another instance, a video producer from Nevada took a standard drug test as part of a job application and was stunned when it came back positive for marijuana – even though he hadn’t used marijuana. He had, however, taken CBD to help him sleep. 

• In New York, a truck driver who was taking CBD claims he was fired after a routine drug test came up positive.

Given that CBD is not supposed to show up on routine drug screens, you would be justified in asking what is going on. You may also be concerned about taking CBD if your employer requires periodic drug testing. So perhaps some additional information and context will put your mind at ease on both counts as well as help you to be proactive when selecting and using CBD if your health-care provider believes it would be of benefit to you.

What you, as a potential CBD consumer, need to know is that most CBD products are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other regulatory bodies. This means that you are trusting the manufacturer’s word on the quality, type and purity of the CBD you are purchasing.

Unfortunately, labeling errors are probably more common than you might think. One study in the Netherlands, for example, found that almost 20 percent of products labeled as “CBD-only” in one sample contained detectable amounts of THC, with some of these amounts high enough to possibly have a psychoactive effect. More research needs to be done to determine the level of mislabeling in the United States, but it reinforces the importance of being an educated consumer.

The trace amounts of THC and compounds found in any given sample of mislabeled CBD can all be impacted by:

• where the CBD comes from
• how the plant source was harvested 
• where it was grown

And some manufacturing processes may increase the probability that the CBD you purchase may contain other compounds.

An analogy is when you purchase a food product and there is a warning about it being processed on machinery that “also processes peanuts and other nuts” so that you know you run a risk of consuming the product should you have a nut allergy.

How to Be a Proactive and Educated CBD Purchaser

Your best bet for ensuring that any CBD therapies you and your health-care provider decide may be helpful to you will not trigger a positive result on a drug test is to follow the same precautions you would with any other product you will be putting in your body. Just as you would read the nutritional labels on a food product, a nutritional supplement or an OTC medication, you need to do the same with CBD.

Here are some tips to ensure that you are as educated as possible about a CBD product before you purchase it:

• Avoid any CBD product that makes health claims on its label or marketing information. Since the FDA has, to date, only approved one CBD health claim (that for treating a specific form of childhood epilepsy), any company that promises its CBD will cure disease or an ailment may also be making other false claims, for example, about the purity of its product.

• Do your research and check out the laboratory/manufacturer of the CBD product you are considering. Only purchase from reputable companies who have their products tested by a recognized laboratory for quality and purity.

• Only purchase the isolate form of CBD. There are other formulations, such as broad and full spectrum, for example, that may include other compounds present in the cannabis plant and not just CBD. If you purchase anything other than isolate, you increase the risk of the product containing a compound that could trigger a positive result on a drug test. You can also check to see if the manufacturer can provide a Certificate of Analysis for its products. While this testing is not fool proof, it can go far in assuring you’re getting pure, isolate CBD such as the type produced by 1PURE.

• Since the CBD you may purchase most likely will have been extracted from the hemp plant (which cultivation is legal in all 50 U.S. states), try to determine in which state the source hemp was grown. For example, states such as Colorado and Oregon have longstanding hemp farming and require rigorous testing the harvested hemp. Also, it’s better to have the CBD extracted from hemp rather than marijuana.

For more information about this issue, visit Proactive Health Labs. 

The information on 30Seconds.com is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered medical advice. The information provided through this site should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease, and is not a substitute for professional care. Always consult your personal healthcare provider.

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