Are you facing an upcoming drug test and nervous about the possible repercussions of your CBD use? You aren’t the only one. After all, CBD comes from a plant remarkably similar to the one that is still federally regulated. If your employer is testing for cannabis, won’t that test catch use of any CBD oil as well? The good news in this situation? There is no such thing as a CBD oil drug test.
Keep in mind; there are a few things you might want to know. Read any forum thread on the topic, and you might see reports of people taking CBD who have failed a drug test. What does this mean? It means cannabis, cannabinoids, and their interaction within the body is a complicated topic. It also means not all CBD products are pure CBD.
What Is a Drug Test Looking For?
Most people face one of two types of drug tests. The first is a urine test, which looks for THC metabolites (among other drugs) expressed in the urine. Urine tests look for historical use. In extreme cases, people have failed urine drug tests even after a month of abstinence. Although, for most non-chronics, the period is likely around less than two weeks.
An oral test or saliva test looks for the active THC compound through saliva collected from your mouth on the end of the swab. Instead of testing for historic use, it tests for cannabis use within the last six to eight hours.
Key takeaway? No matter if your employer is testing for historical use, or if you are intoxicated at the moment – neither are CBD oil drug tests. Both are designed to catch the THC molecule or the THC metabolite in your body. Neither will pick up CBD content.
Why Is There Still a Risk?
Employers are not subjecting their staff to CBD oil drug tests. That said, you may have heard reports from people testing positive, even if they only take CBD oil. There are likely two culprits for these rare but unfortunate situations.
First, even if you only use CBD oil products sourced from hemp, it’s important to remember that hemp is technically still a cannabis plant. Hemp products are differentiated from cannabis by their lack of THC. So under the law, all CBD oil products produced from hemp contain under 0.3% THC.
This microscopic percent of THC will never be enough to trigger a positive result unless of course, you are taking massive daily doses of the CBD oil. If you consume high doses of CBD oil, then it becomes a numbers game.
Eventually, with large doses, you’ll also be taking higher doses of THC. What’s considered a high dose? According to at least one drug testing company, they estimate daily doses of over 1000 mg of CBD oil may increase the risk of failure.
Keep in mind, 1000mg of CBD oil a day is an extremely high dose, and likely reserved only for the treatment of chronic illness. Also, no clinical trials are exploring the numbers. Nobody knows for sure if 1000mg of CBD oil will trigger a failure, but based on simple calculations; this is what the experts suggest.
Secondly, how much THC is actually in your CBD oil? Not all CBD oil is made from pure hemp. You can also find CBD oil pulled from CBD-rich strains of cannabis (flower with over 0.3 percent THC). Although soon, there may be better regulation on the industry, there is little oversight over labeling, testing, and processing of CBD oil.
Who is to say your CBD oil wasn’t made in a facility processing THC oils as well. Or, maybe your CBD oil didn’t come with official third-party lab results detailing the cannabinoid profile. There have been many studies showing just how inaccurate labels can be. Technically, if you failed a drug test, it is possible it was because your CBD oil had higher levels of THC than you thought.
The Final Takeaway on CBD Oil, Drug Testing, and Positive Results
If you take nothing else away from this piece, remember its highly unlikely CBD oil will deliver positive results on a drug test. Drug tests do not test for CBD; they only look for THC.
High doses of CBD theoretically may result in failure, but very few people are prescribed doses this high. You should only take high doses of anything under the guidance of a physician. If you are still concerned about CBD and drug testing, stick with brands who provide third-party lab results on a per batch basis. This will confirm, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the THC content.
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