You may be someone who has swapped out their marijuana habit for CBD, which is an excellent option if you’re looking for a healthier daily dose of virtually the same thing.
You may have also swapped it out because they’ve started drug testing at work and you didn’t want to fail. However, you may have been asked to take a drug test recently, and it came up positive, despite the fact that you no longer smoke marijuana. So, what does this mean, exactly?
While it is true that the majority of CBD oils that are high quality shouldn’t contain any THC whatsoever, there are undoubtedly sub-par products out there will contain trace amounts of the psychoactive cannabinoid.
It all depends on where they sourced their cannabis or hemp from and the extraction methods they used to separate the CBD from everything else.
This article is all about deciphering exactly why you may have failed that drug test, despite not ingesting any THC – as far as you know.
While it’s incredibly unlikely that CBD will result in a failed drug test, it is a possibility every now and then. Let’s take a look at why CBD could be the reason why you failed that drug test.
Your CBD Tincture Could Be Low Quality
While there are a number of reasons why you may have failed the drug test, the most likely one is because you bought a CBD oil that is low quality. This means that the product actually still had trace amounts of THC, despite being advertised without it.
Because drug tests typically look for THC, this means that if you’ve just been taking CBD, this won’t show up at all because they’re only looking for traces of THC.
CBD doesn’t even come up on their radar. What happens then is that due to the extraction process, enough THC has been transferred from the plant to the end product and is now showing up on the drug test that you failed.
What’s interesting about this mix up is that it’s more likely to happen when you buy your CBD oil from dispensaries in states where THC is legal, medicinally and recreationally, rather than if you were sticking to online avenues of purchase.
The biggest reason for this is that most physical retailers that sell CBD oil will be getting it from the marijuana plant, not the hemp plant, mainly due to the fact that it’s legal.
The most significant difference between the hemp plant and the marijuana plant is the presence of THC, which means that even if just a trace amount of THC was extracted from the cannabis plant along with the CBD, it’s still going to show up on drug tests as being in your system, even if you haven’t gotten high from it.
It’s important to remember that this is still an unlikely scenario, but it is possible if the CBD oil you’re purchasing has been derived from the cannabis plant, not the hemp plant, and produced in a state that grows a lot of cannabis because of legislation.
When CBD oil is extracted from the hemp plant, though, by law, it cannot contain more than 0.3% THC. This trace amount will not show up on the average drug test.
This example is taken from physical dispensaries. On the other side of the coin are online retailers, where the majority of CBD oil companies source their CBD oil from hemp. The main reason for this is that hemp is legal in every state in America, whereas marijuana is only legal in some.
Despite this, you’re also going to come across some dodgy companies online as well who are extracting their CBD from the cannabis plant, yet claiming that their products contain no THC.
Additionally, there is little to no regulation around both THC and CBD by the FDA or any other organization, which means that they are getting away with doing this.
Your CBD Oil Could be Contaminated
Another reason why you may have failed the drug test is that foreign elements may have gotten mixed up in the original CBD oil mixture.
Again, this scenario is much more likely to happen in a physical dispensary than with an online retailer. This is because dispensaries are selling products that contain THC and CBD, some separately and some together.
Even residue on the hands can lead to cross-contamination, which means that if a store clerk is handling a product that contains THC and then handles a product without it, THC could be transferred to the product without any THC. While you’d be right for thinking that the odds are slim with this hypothetical scenario, it’s definitely possible.
Remember, while you’re certainly not limited to just buying your CBD oil online and shouldn’t think this is the only option, it’s good to remember things like this when you do buy it in person.
You May Have Been Exposed to THC
Another reason that could possibly explain why you failed the drug test is that you have been in contact with THC without even being aware of it. While this may sound far-fetched, it’s actually a lot more common than you may think.
If you’ve got a group of friends that still choose to smoke marijuana, you could be inhaling their second-hand smoke. There is definitely the possibility that you’re inhaling enough of their smoke to put enough THC in your system to fail a drug test.
Keep in mind, though, that this would have to happen a day or two before the drug test, and it would have to be quite a highly concentrated amount of second-hand smoke.
What’s actually more likely in this case is that you transferred THC to your head somehow, perhaps through touching it with your hand. This sounds incredibly absurd, but it’s a real scenario. This is because when they test your hair for drugs, they are much more detectable than urine samples.
Again, this is another scenario that has a slim chance of happening – but this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.
Your Stomach Acid Converted the CBD to THC
This is easily the most unlikely scenario to occur, which means there’s a good chance that this isn’t why you failed the drug test. However, it’s good to cover all bases and determine precisely where the THC is coming from.
There is evidence to suggest that CBD can break down into small amounts of THC when mixed with a strong acid, like your stomach acid.
Ultimately, while this is certainly a possibility, there’s no way that the THC produced by your stomach acid could be enough to make you fail a drug test.
Companies Who Sell Safe CBD Products
| Brand | Prices |
|---|---|
 | |
| Royal CBD | |
| Zion | |
| Absolute Nature | |
| NuLeaf Naturals | |
| Endoca | |
| Hemp Bombs |
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, if you’re getting your CBD oil from a reputable company – hopefully online – that has guaranteed their product has less than 0.3% THC, then the chances of you failing a drug test are almost zero.
However, strange things do happen, and it is possible that you’ve found yourself in one of the scenarios we talked about above. It has undoubtedly happened to others and probably will continue to happen as well, mainly because CBD oil is becoming more and more popular as a natural remedy.
If you’ve got another drug test coming up that you don’t want to fail, be aware of any THC you may be coming into contact with and make sure that the company you source your CBD oil from is trustworthy.
References and Further Reading
1. Even High Doses of Oral Cannabidiol Do Not Cause THC-Like Effects in Humans
2. A Conversion of Oral Cannabidiol to Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Seems Not to Occur in Humans
Anne Keiley
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Something like this happened to a friend of mine from work. He tested positive for THC and got in trouble with our supervisor. Fortunately, he didn’t lose his job because he explained that he’s using CBD for his chronic condition. He stopped using it for a few weeks and retook the test.