Wait, Does CBD Show Up In A Drug Test?

Does CBD Show Up In A Drug Test?

Does CDB, Cannabidiol, Show Up In A Drug Test? from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

The increasing awareness of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive compound in cannabis with a multitude of health benefits, has spawned a boom in the cannabis market. There are now more CBD products than ever before – from transdermal patches to oils and everything in between.

With more people consuming CBD, some may be concerned about failing a drug test.

Will CBD make you fail a drug test?

No… and yes.

Different Kinds Of Drug Tests

Drug tests, also known as drug screening procedures, usually entail analyzing one’s urine to look for the presence of illegal drugs. There are dozens of different kinds of drug tests on the market – they all test for various drugs, depending on the need of the organization or person that is administering the test.

Urine isn’t the only thing that can be tested. Drug tests can also screen for substances in blood, saliva, sweat, or hair; each of these has its own advantages for testing such as the accuracy, time since use, and the minimum amount of the drug detected. Depending on the kind of drug you use, the frequency, and the amount, detection is possible anywhere from a few hours after your last use to a few weeks.

When it comes to drug tests for cannabis use, which is more common in the employment arena, they usually use urine drug screens which are made with immunoassays, a kind of biological test with antibodies made to detect levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and its primary metabolite, THC-COOH. These tests are designed to specifically look for levels of THC in your urine, and rarely ever cross over to check for other non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBD and others. So if you consume CBD oil made from hemp which contains only tiny amounts of THC, consuming hemp oil should not cause you to fail a drug test.

If urine samples are verified using a GC/MS test (Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry), which is much more accurate, it will come out as negative and will show that you were below the testing limits for THC. However, GC/MS tests are much more expensive than the routine urine screening so it’s rarely used by companies except for when they need to validate results of the immunoassay urine screening. GC/MS tests are more accurate because they have the ability to look for only one metabolite – they are also more sensitive and are able to detect significantly lower concentrations of THC and its metabolites.

Not All CBD Products Are Made Equally

To put it simply, every single CBD product on the market has been derived from a plant that has at least minute traces of THC. If you smoked a high-CBD strain, you won’t fail a drug test if it contains even just as much as 0.04% THC. But if you’re consuming a concentrate, things may get… well… sticky.

When you consume a concentrate or a large dose of CBD that contains as much as 1,000 mg, this may result in a positive when you take a drug test because it may contain around 3mg of THC. It also depends on the manufacturer and how they made the product, because some companies make CBD products that contain some other cannabinoids even if it means small amounts of THC, because this enhances its medicinal benefits through the entourage effect. Other companies make CBD products that are completely free of THC.

Choosing The Right CBD Products

With the overwhelming amount of CBD products in the market, the possibility of a false positive can still be enough to scare people away from using CBD products at all. However, keep in mind that not all CBD products contain THC. When you’re shopping for CBD products, it’s important to research the labels and the company that manufactured it. The best way to determine if it contains trace amount of THC is to check for lab tested products with reports, to ensure that you are getting a good-quality CBD product with no THC if you are concerned about drug testing.

Certain CBD products on the market are aware of this concern, and have identified on their labels which products are THC-free. But even if you consume CBD products with trace amounts of THC, it’s highly unlikely that you will fail a drug test if you adhere to the recommended doses.

Does CDB, Cannabidiol, Show Up In A Drug Test? from CannabisNet on Vimeo.