In 2018, the Farm Law allowed for the mass cultivation of hemp, the close cousin of the cannabis plant. Hemp flowers have since been produced in increased numbers as well in response to an increasing demand for CBD products.
With the increasing popularity of hemp CBD products, many questions have started to arise regarding its widespread use. With the stigma of hemp flowers and its relation to marijuana, a lot of fear and uncertainty have sprung up as to whether or not its a legal substance. There have been conflicting and confusing reports as to whether or not the use of hemp flowers can cause you to fail a drug test.
We’ll be looking into the nature of hemp flowers, how drug tests work, and what this means for your recreational use of hemp. But first, we should start with a focused explanation as to what is the true culprit behind these fears. That’s the Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol.
Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short, is a cannabinoid molecule found in cannabis. This molecule has long been regarded as the main reason for the marijuana high. In regular marijuana, the levels of THC can range from between 5 to 20%.
Numerous studies have looked into THC and have discovered it to be the driving ingredient to why marijuana is one the most common substance abused. The National Institutes on Drug Abuse have found that over 30% of marijuana users will develop an addiction for the drug.
Additionally, THC is also responsible for many psychoactive health risks for substantial users. Studies have shown that THC may have the detrimental effect of causing psychosis, impaired memory, and aggravation of anxiety. Overall, THC has been deemed harmful especially for the developing brain.
Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol is metabolized into 9-carboxy-THC, which is the active component of marijuana. The levels of this metabolite are highest during the time a person finishes smoking one joint of marijuana and remains in the blood for approximately 4 to 6 hours at a level of 2ng/mL.
This metabolite then is excreted from the body within the next 5 days. The distribution of its excretion is divided between the feces and the urine by 65% and 20% in the urine respectively.
A standard urine drug test uses immunoassays and is designed to detect high levels of THC in your pee. If more than 50ng/mL of THC metabolite is found in the urine, that counts as a positive test.
If positive, the same sample will undergo a subsequent test called the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry test (GC-MS) which has a threshold level of 15ng/mL to detect metabolites from THC. This test does not test any other cannabinoid-related substance, which means it will not results in a positive test if you CBD in your body.
The answer to this question is yes, but with concessions. Hemp flowers are CBD-rich plants and this is the primary reason they are used. However, drug tests don’t detect CBD but rather look for the metabolites of THC.
Hemp flowers contain little to no THC. The definition establishes that hemp flowers contain only less than 0.3% THC. This is a regulation that governs all hemp-based industries and must be followed for conformity.
Many hemp-producing farms have a third-party laboratory that tests their products for the accurate determination of the cannabinoid-related substances in the hemp flowers. This is a good way to establish whether or not your product is within the accepted THC levels.
Because CBD hemp flowers should contain only trace amounts of THC, you are highly unlikely to test positive on a standard urine drug test.
If you are using are only using pure CBD hemp flowers, there is nothing to worry about. The low THC in hemp will not translate to increased levels of the THC metabolite in your blood or urine that may be detectable in the test.
Some say that prolonged daily use of CBD hemp can cause an elevation of THC in the urine that can sound the alarm in a urine drug test. However, these claims are purely anecdotal and the experience may be different from person to person. One user on Reddit reports smoking CBD hemp flowers almost every day for 2 months and smoking his regular five hours before the test and still the results were negative.
The experience is not the same for others, unfortunately. Some have consumed less CBD hemp products but have tested positive eventually. Many factors could have caused this and the accuracy of the tests may be something to look into as well.
A false-positive result can occur in 5-10% of cases. In some situations, 9 out of 1000 people will test positive for a substance they have not taken. Some reports have shown that the intake of certain drugs can produce a metabolite similar to the one created from THC. If you’re confident in the purity of your CBD Hemp product, it’s important to take a confirmatory test to disprove the false positives.
As stated earlier, using pure CBD hemp flowers should give you a reliable comfort blanket from testing positive from a screening test. If you have a strong trust with your regular CBD provided, you can pretty much ensure you’re getting a safe product.
Even then, there exists the possibility that hemp flower producers aren’t as compliant with these national regulations. CBD products are not at all FDA-approved and not much in the way of an overseeing body ensures that the quality control is maintained to the T. There have been various reports of lab report tampering for the sake of selling CBD products. In this regard, there arises the need to be diligent with whom you transact for your CBD needs.
It’s important, therefore, to ensure the quality of the CBD products you’re consuming. It will be helpful to secure third-party laboratory certification of the CBD products you intend to consume. Making sure the THC levels are within acceptable levels gives you that extra buffer of security against a drug screening or scrutinizing authorities.
You’re not likely to fail a standard urine drug test if you’re using a pure CBD hemp flower product. Consuming hemp with less than 0.3% THC content is not likely to raise the levels of the metabolite in the urine to merit a positive result. A false-positive result from consuming other substances that resemble the THC metabolite may easily be disproven with a confirmatory test.
Many factors may confound these results however such as circumstances related to misrepresented THC levels in allegedly pure CBD hemp products may also complicate potential test results. Variation in metabolism among users also play into how much THC remains or is excreted from the body.
The bottom line is this: provided everything is done by the book and you have a trusted hemp seller, it’s safe to smoke that flower to your heart’s content.
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