# Does the military help it's recruit pass drug tests

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-help-its-recruit-pass-drug-tests/315793>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 5, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-help-its-recruit-pass-drug-tests/315793 "2005-08-05T21:46:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![who\_knows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@who\_knows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/who_knows)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-help-its-recruit-pass-drug-tests/315793/1 "2005-08-05T21:46:12Z")

</div>

Is it true that the military help their recruits pass drug tests? I’ve read several articles that say so - and - so wasn’t going to be admitted into the army because of their marijuana use, but then the recruiter told them how to get around it. What these articles never say is how the recruiters help them to get around it. From what I understand marijuana is very hard to get out of the system. Basically, I"ve read that it is stored up in your fat cells and depending upon how long and how much a person ingests; it may take a couple of days to a couple of months to rid your system. I’ve heard that most people who take marijuana urine analysis just drink a bunch of water and then urinate mostly water, since most marijuana tests look at the metabolite concentration, the water will lower to legal standards. In relation to this, the urine is often very suspicious because of it’s high water content and clarity, so I assume this is not what the military tells their recruits. With all this being said, what could they possibly tell them? From what I’m reading on the internet, people use everything from niacin to vinegar, but those “miracle” cleaners are basically just myths. So, is this a myth that the military tells people how to pass drug tests, or do they actually know something that we don’t? 😕

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-help-its-recruit-pass-drug-tests/315793/2 "2005-08-05T21:49:11Z")

</div>

Just a hunch, but you aren’t too interested in if the military is helping its recruits with drug tests are you?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-help-its-recruit-pass-drug-tests/315793/3 "2005-08-05T22:09:21Z")

</div>

Recent [Scandal and Rumor of Scandal in Colorado:](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/02/earlyshow/main692361.shtml)

> [@](#):
>
> The Army doesn’t accept enlistees with a drug problem, but that’s what McSwane pretended to have when he spoke with the recruiter.
> 
> “I have a problem with drugs. I can’t kick the habit. Just marijuana,” McSwane recalls telling the recruiter. “And he says, 'Not a problem. Just take this detox.” He said he would pay for half of it, and told me where to go (to get it)."
> 
> Drug testers Sallinger contacted insist it doesn’t work, but the recruiter claimed in another recorded phone conversation that taking the detoxification capsules and liquid would help McSwane pass the required test.
> 
> “The two times that I had the guys use it,” the recruiter says on the tape, “it’s worked both times. We didn’t have to worry about anything.”