CBD has been dominating news, science journals and social media as of late. Even companies like, newcomer, Hot Juice is now selling CBD vape juice that you can put right into your vaporizer without the nicotine, which to me is fascinating. CBD is derived from the cannabis plant, even if your state is not 420 friendly, you can still legally use CBD, unless you’re in Indiana. In Indiana the laws regarding CBD are a little murky.
CBD is short for cannabidiol and is reported to have a whole host of health benefits associated with it. It’s being used for pain relief, anxiety, inflammation and is even being used as a cancer treatment thanks to its kickass ability to kill cancer cell growth.
Because of the reasons above, it’s clear to see why the growth in CBD usage and CBD products on the market has been exponential over the last few years. The industry is set to grow a further 700% by 2020.
Obviously, this rapid growth has left people with many questions with regards to drug testing in the workplace. Can CBD be detected in a drug test? What does this mean for you?
If you work for a company that does random drug testing, you likely want to know; can you fail a drug test due to CBD? Read on to find out more.
Does CBD Show Up on a Drug Test?
I’ve had friends, family and readers alike ask me “Does CBD show up in a drug test?” In short, the answer is no. But the truth is that there is a little more to it than that simple “no”.
Generally, when employers do random workplace drug tests, and cannabis is part of the test, they are testing for THC, not CBD. A CBD oil drug test is highly unlikely as CBD does not impair you.
THC, on the other hand, is the estranged cousin of CBD and is the psycho-active cannabinoid that is prevalent in the marijuana strain of the cannabis plant. THC can cause pretty serious impairments and side effects which employers would want to know about.
CBD is derived from hemp and contains only trace amounts of THC, less than 0.3% to be exact. Therefore, you would have to be consuming an awful lot of CBD for the trace amounts of THC to even be picked up on a drug test.
Can You Fail a Drug Test due to CBD?
Now we’ve discussed whether CBD will show up on a drug test, the next question is, can you fail a drug test due to CBD? Well, one thing that could happen is that you get a false positive result.
A false positive is not necessarily a failed test. As mentioned before there can be trace amounts of THC in CBD, it’s totally legal. If you were to consume extremely high amounts of CBD everyday (we’re talking around the 2,000mg mark) then the false positive may be triggered.
An outright failure of an employee drug test just isn’t going to happen however. Some tests are in development to specifically test for CBD in the body, however it is highly unlikely that an employer would care if you have CBD in your system, they simply want to know if you’re high and CBD doesn’t make you high.
Can CBD Be Detected in a Drug Test?
Only if CBD is being tested for, and the fact of the matter is that drug tests weren’t designed to test for CBD as its non-psychoactive and therefore doesn’t impair the user. CBD is used more for medicinal purposes and your medicinal regimen has no effect on your employer.
Generally speaking, a CBD oil drug test isn’t something that employers are currently seeking out, as discussed in the last section. You could have a couple thousand milligrams floating through your system and it wouldn’t be detected as the doctors are testing for a different cannabinoid.
There is a time however, when CBD could be detected in a drug test. This is when medical professionals are specifically looking and testing for it, and don’t worry, they’re not doing it, so they can go running to your boss, it’s so they can prescribe you appropriate drugs that won’t react badly with the CBD.
If, for example, you’re about to have surgery and your CBD levels are very high, anesthetic wouldn’t be a wise choice as it is a depressant, like CBD, and could cause complications. In such cases the doctors would wait until the CBD/THC is out of your system.
Final Thoughts on CBD Drug Testing
It’s worth noting that you should always do research into where your CBD is coming from. Some CBD oils contain more than the trace amount of THC levels and could mean that you would outright fail an employer drug test.
Reputable vendors of CBD oil are usually very transparent about what strain of the cannabis plant they are using and how many mg of THC/CBD can be expected in each dose.
But to answer your questions about HEMP derived CBD; does CBD show up on a drug test? No. Can CBD be detected in a drug test? No!
They won’t be looking for it, you’re safe to consume or vape CBD to your heart’s content.
