It is not uncommon to hear about employers expecting their staff to undergo drugs tests to ensure that they are fit and safe to work. For people whose jobs involve driving, working machinery or being put in potentially dangerous situations, drug testing can be a norm. And the thinking is that as long as you haven’t done anything wrong, you should be fine.
Work drug tests usually involve the checking for illicit drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and cannabis, usually in the blood, urine or saliva, and for many people, their job relies on them passing the test.
CBD from the Cannabis plant
CBD or cannabidiol is a natural compound which is found in the cannabis plant. It is usually extracted using carbon dioxide from the plant and made into an oil, to allow humans to benefit from its properties.
CBD can provide a number of benefits to our general health as well as being able to help people who suffer from issues relating to inflammation, low mood and anxiety, pain and relaxation.
There are over 100 significant compounds in cannabis, as well as many traces of other compounds, and CBD and THC are the most prominent and well understood of them.
Although CBD and THC are very similar (in fact, they have identical chemical formulas), their effect on the human body can be significantly different. One of the main differences is that THC makes you feel high, and CBD doesn’t.
When you take a drugs test at work, it is actually THC in your system that they are testing for.
This means that technically speaking, if you have been only taking CBD, you will have no problem in passing the drug test.
Work Drug Tests
There are a few options open to employers when it comes to drug tests. Different testing methods are able to detect different amounts of drugs and for how long they have been in the bloodstream.
- Saliva tests are easy to carry out with just a swab in the mouth. They can give results quickly but can only detect very recent drug use.
- Urine tests are also a quick and easy way to detect drug use. They are accurate and unobtrusive and are a robust way to see if there are drugs in the system.
- Blood tests are the most accurate way to check for drugs in the system. They are, however, more difficult to carry out, require specialist equipment and can take longer for the results to come through.
THC and Full Spectrum CBD
When you buy CBD products in the UK, they are usually made from industrial hemp. This is a strain of cannabis which has been especially developed over time to have low levels of THC. Whereas in some strains of marijuana THC levels can be around 20%, hemp, by definition must have levels of a maximum of 0.2%.
This means that there is no chance of feeling any high if you take CBD products which are made from hemp, even if you take your CBD in high doses. The cut off point for works drugs tests is significantly higher than you would have in your bloodstream if you were taking CBD which comes from the hemp plant.
There are three types of CBD oil which you can buy – full spectrum oil, broad spectrum oil and CBD distillate. The difference between these three types is all about the ingredients in the oil in addition to the CBD.
- Full Spectrum CBD Oil is oil which uses the extract of the whole hemp plant. This will involve all of the cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes in the plant, including CBD and THC. This ‘whole plant extract’ is scientifically proven to be the most effective form of CBD as the compounds work together to multiply its efficacy.
Full spectrum CBD oil will include some THC by its very nature. As long as you are buying legal oil, made from industrial hemp with a THC level of under 0.2%, you will have no problem passing the drugs test. There is a small chance, however, that the THC might show up in drugs tests.
- Broad Spectrum CBD Oil is oil which is made from most of the compounds from the hemp plant. Typically, broad spectrum CBD oil will give you a broad range of cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes, but not THC. There may be some traces of it, but not enough to show up on any work drugs test.
- CBD Distillate is the ‘purest’ form CBD oil that you can get. With a CBD concentration of up to 99%, there shouldn’t be anything else present except for CBD. CBD distillate, contrary to what seems like logic, isn’t actually as effective ml to ml as full or broad spectrum CBD oil. However, by taking CBD distillate you can guarantee to have no chance of any THC in your system during a blood test.
If you are buying legitimate CBD oil, regardless of whether it is full spectrum or CBD distillate, you should have no problem in passing your work drug test. It’s also important to research the affects CBD has on medications.
Ensuring good quality CBD Oil
The most important way that you can ensure that you won’t fail a works drugs test is by being sure that you are getting the CBD oil that is described on the bottle.
Due to the fact that the CBD market is largely unregulated, unfortunately, some CBD oil producers will give you low quality oil, often with inconsistent levels of the different compounds.
The best way to make sure that you have genuine, legitimate and accurate CBD oil is by only buying products which have been tested by an independent laboratory and can give you a detailed breakdown of what exactly is in it.
Legitimate producers of CBD oil should be able to provide you with the results of regular, independent lab tests, so that you know what quantities of what compounds you are taking. This way, you can ensure that the THC levels in the CBD oil that you are taking are low enough to pass the drug test.
There is no denying how important it is for employees to pass their work drug tests. And CBD can be an important part of many people’s lifestyles. It is therefore very important to understand the effects that taking poor quality CBD oil can have on drug tests. It could not only mean that THC levels are higher than stated, but you could also run the risk of CBD levels being lower than stated, meaning that it could have little to no effect.
This is why it is so important that you get the best quality CBD oil that you can. By knowing exactly what you are buying and putting into your body, you can be sure that you won’t have any problems passing that all important test.
