The company for which I work is about to implement stringent drug-testing policies. I don’t partake myself, but of the 12-14 hours each day outside of work, I am constantly around secondhand cannabis smoke (read: all my friends are potheads :)) My question is as follows: will constant, daily exposure to said smoke make me test positive at all? Any knowledge about such things will be helpful.
I used to work for a lab that performed drug tests, and I was always told that you would not test positive from second-hand smoke.
The drug test is not just a positive-negative test, your urine must contain a certain amount of a drug to rate as positive. So just having inhaled the diluted smoke in a room is usually not concentrated enough to cause a positive result.
Don’t buy that crap for a second.
A positive (detectable) reading on a test is just that, positive. “A certain amount” is not a definitive measure.
I have known several people who worked in the medical lab field. Some of these people are skilled, trained proffesionals. Some are grunt labor who somehow got an associate’s in biology or some such at community college.
False positives happen.
That you are already employed there is a plus. At least you get a second chance to take the test.
My advise is, from the minite you are tested, stop all your exposure to pot. You will probably have at least a couple of days between the time you are tested till they call you back (if they do). Increase your water intake. Pot is fat soluble but water does help eliminate fat. (just dont over do it)
If you are called in for a re-test, do your best to delay it. A day or so couldn’t hurt. Remain hydrated up to the day of the test.
On the day of the re-test don’t drink a ton ot water. Instead follow your normal routine (coffee, tea, breakfast, that sort of thing) Eliminate your morning urine before you head out.
People are exposed to second hand cigaret smoke all the time & boy does it ever effect the body. Second hand pot smoke is just the same.
While we’re at it, does anyone know what the sensitivity and specificity of the standard workplace drug tests are?
(For the biostatistically uninitiated: sensitivity is the likelihood that a test will detect a condition, or TP/(TP+FN). Specificity is the likelihood that a test will be negative in the absence of a condition, or TN/(TN+FP). An ideal test is 100% sensitive and specific. In reality, as one goes up, the other tends to go down, though not always. Screening tests are generally very sensitive and not very specific.)
Dr. J
“Seriously, baby, I can prescribe anything I want!” -Dr. Nick Riviera
Thanks for the input. My understanding has always been that it takes 4-6 weeks for one’s body to clear out any drug residues (or whatever it’s called). I know there are products on the market that supposedly “cleanse” one’s system, but I have doubts as to their effectiveness. It’s virtually impossible for me to avoid any exposure, because that would mean to eliminate all contact with virtually everyone I know, including my live-in.
I am currently on prescribed painkilers (Darvoset) because of a recent surgery. Does anyone know if those could result in a positive test? I’m afraid I’m ignorant of whether drug tests test for specific drugs like marijuana or narcotics, or just any substances whatsoever. I’m assuming they test for presence of THC or the equivalent telltale signs of other drugs, but I’m not sure.If I can blame a positive on the painkillers or morphine I’ve been on while in the hospital, I’m in the clear.
Do you suppose I’d be better off if I make my boyfriend go out to the garage to hit the bong? (After a week of that, I may be single again.) Or do I just get a whole new set of friends?
I failed a drug test once. I was told on a Friday that I had to take a test on Monday. I had smoked up until Thursday night. When I got the results, they knew I had smoked marijuana, so the test is drug specific.
When I have had to take them since then, I fasted for 4 to 6 weeks prior and used flushes and have not failed another test. I don’t know if the flushes worked or if it was the time or some combination.
I have not done any drugs since April 1st and I have a test coming up. (I start a new job in two weeks.) I also bought a flush. My SO still smokes in the apartment. (I take a walk.) I don’t know if that affect the results or not.
When you take the test, they ask you if you are taking any medications.
So in my experience, the tests are drug specific, but they will make allowances for prescribed medicines. So be sure to tell them.
These tests are so silly. I am a computer programmer for a financial instutution. No one’s life is in my hands. Also, in my experience, at least in my profession, they don’t randomly test on the job just on starting the job. From what I have heard marijuana stays in your system longer than any of the more serious drugs like coke or heroin.
I gotta go take a walk now. 
Virtually yours,
DrMatrix
“Feynman was wrong.
I understand Quantum Physics completely.
Anybody seen my drugs?” - A WallyM7™ .sig
I’m fortunate enough to have the power (due to my experience and talent) to refuse drug testing on moral grounds.
SingleDad
“moral grounds”?? How do you talk a company into breaking policy for you?
Virtually yours,
DrMatrix
“Feynman was wrong.
I understand Quantum Physics completely.
Anybody seen my drugs?” - A WallyM7™ .sig
I was tested at my former job. Before you pee in the cup, you get the chance to fill out a form. It requires you to list any and all prescription and OTC drugs you are currently taking.
One of my co-workers tested positive for opium and he was the last person anyone would expect to do drugs. He was a muffin addict, and cleared the whole thing up by admitting he had scarfed down a couple of poppyseed muffins in the few days before his test.
Unless you are an airline pilot I wouldn’t worry about your boyfriend’s pot smoke. I don’t think most standard tests are sensitive enough to pick it up.
{big confession}I used to smoke pot, never heavily, but I smoked on a Thursday night and passed a drug test on Monday morning.{/big confession}
Bo
Holy shit! By fasting do you mean you abstain from pot? Or do you literally fast (not eat) for 4-6 weeks?
Daddy worked for the Federal Gummint for a bit over 20 years. He was subject to at least his fair share of random tests. ( He had something called Q Clearance, and I think they targeted him more than just randomly, but hey…).
The man is as straight, and old school as they come. BUT- heart and B.P. meds, AND an incredible love for poppy seed bagels tripped the tests more than once. Yes,it's no U.L. If you ingest enough poppy seeds, you will show +. NOT for heroin, but for Poppy- which makes them do a full-bore test. He almost always showed + for some other substance, and it was his heart and B.P. meds that explained it away. Yes, he always kept an up-to-date list of his meds in his briefcase. It didn't matter, they tested him anyway, and then had to do the follow-up test each time. A pain in the ass. Never threatened his clearance, though.
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
I mean abstain from pot.
Virtually yours,
DrMatrix
“Feynman was wrong.
I understand Quantum Physics completely.
Anybody seen my drugs?” - A WallyM7™ .sig
How much money would you have to accept to give up smoking pot?
I hear that Goldenseal (an herb available at your local health food/ vitamin store) helps pass tests- Does anyone know if this is true? The guy at the store said to take double the suggested amount 3 times a day for a few days before. I have also heard that you are supposed to drink a TON of water (enough to make you pee once an hour at least) and then take a vitamin b the night before so your pee is yellow the next day. (get rid of the first morning pee though). One last thing- exercise the day or two before- fairly hard too. The THC stores in your fat cells, so if you exercise a few days before you should release some of the THC from your system. But over-hydrate after you exercise to flush your system.
I have so many thoughts going through my head that sometimes it’s hard to finish a
I’ve only actually done so once. I wrote it into my contract that I was excempt from random drug testing. I specifically allowed them to require a test if there were evidence that I was doing drugs and it was interfering with my work.
Generally though, I simply refuse to even interview at a company that requires drug testing. The market for people with my skills (I’m a senior software engineer) is competitive enough that even a small fraction of people who object to policies on moral grounds encourages companies to avoid such policies.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
Humph! I’ll bet you didn’t smoke enough to understand Quantum Physics completely.
“Drugs will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no drugs” - Fat Freddie
Tomcat
The guy at the store told me there is a prduct that you can take that will make you pass the drug test even if they take a hair sample. So, I do not put much faith in what the guy at the store says. The product I bought looks like it is mostly vitamins. The directions say drink a whole lot of water.
Virtually yours,
DrMatrix
“Feynman was wrong.
I understand Quantum Physics completely.
Anybody seen my drugs?” - A WallyM7™ .sig
Well, the one you bought has vitamin B2 in it, but it’s mostly things like Burdock, Dandelion and Chamomile.
Their claim is to give you a window of time in which you will test negative.
http://members.aol.com/ljgrafix/rainbow.gif
“I don’t want realism. I want magic!” - Blanche DuBois
Yes. Darvocet (PROPOXYPHENE NAP/APAP) is an opiate agnostic and will register in the same category as heroin and opium on a drug test. Just tell them what you’ve been prescribed and it shouldn’t be a problem.