If you’re a regular user of cannabis, you may be worried that your employer will at some point ask you to take a drug test. This practice has become increasingly prevalent over the last few years, so much so that the THC detox has actually become a thing.
But can the range of THC detox drinks and home remedies available actually improve your chances of passing the office drugs test?
At Seedsman, our team has been taking a much closer look at the options.
The Rise of the Corporate Drugs Test
Go back a decade or so and the only businesses that actively tested for drugs were those where people’s lives could be put at risk. That included construction companies, people working in government agencies like the FBI, and those providing frontline services such as doctors and nurses. Even then it wasn’t a given. Apart from the testing of athletes, the general public was often blissfully unaware that drug testing existed and most of us were pretty much left alone. That’s changed in recent years. Businesses of all kinds have introduced mandatory drug testing, both on the spot and for new employees when they first start work. If you haven’t had the time to implement a serious THC detox, that could spell trouble if you’re a regular cannabis user. Of course, advocates are going to say it is a good thing. The Safety & Health Magazine recently reported that positive tests were at a 13 year all-time high. Nevada, once it legalized cannabis, saw a stunning 43% rise in positive THC results among staff. Many companies may not carry out spot drug testing but they will ask any new employee to provide them with a urine sample for examination. Failing that test can mean you don’t get the job. Whether you agree with businesses drug testing their employees or not, it’s here to stay and it’s something most of us have to live with. So what are the options? Can you really beat the test by drinking certain beverages? Can lemon juice make you THC negative? Is cranberry juice or coffee the best solution?What Drug Tests Look For
When you take cannabis, either through eating something, smoking or vaping, it gets broken down in your body. The metabolites that are produced are basically the evidence that shows you have been using cannabis. In this case, the metabolite is THC-COOH. Tests for drugs like alcohol and cocaine look for different ones. There are three main ways of carrying out a drug test. You can provide a urine sample, have blood taken or a hair follicle can be tested. The most common one for businesses is the urine test as it’s basically the easiest to collect.Can A THC Detox Really Increase Your Chances of Passing?
There is a caveat for any type of detox drink that is supposed to rid you of the signs of THC in your blood. There’s a lot that can affect how much shows up. Much depends on who you are, including your genetics, your metabolism, how much you weigh, whether you are a regular user or not and the medium being used to test you. As you might expect, drugs testing processes are a lot more advanced than they were just a decade ago. In other words, it’s increasingly difficult to get away with things. Having said that, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that many of these THC detox drinks have worked for individuals. Unlike alcohol, THC can stay in your body for weeks, if not months, depending on your level of usage. THC metabolites have what is called a half-life. That essentially means that after a period of time the level of metabolite in your body falls to half the initial amount. In the case of THC this takes about a week to achieve. Another week after this and the THC level has fallen by a half again. That means it could take as long as four weeks to get significant signs of THC out of your body. Here’s the important point, however: It only reduces by half if you abstain from putting more cannabis into your body. In other words, to fully do a THC detox you need to abstain. If that’s made the hairs prickle on the back of your neck, then you’re not alone. It can make it difficult to detox at all. The other issue is time and whether drug testing is sprung on you, giving you little or no option to do a detox in the first place. There are various drinks that can help you reduce the amount of THC in your body, at least give the impression you have less. Because most businesses use urine testing as their basic model, that should be an advantage because it’s something you can actually affect. Here are the basic facts that you need to remember:- A frequent user can show up a positive test nearly two weeks after their last cannabis use.
- Heavy users can take up to 2 months to get the THC out of their bodies.
- Many businesses set a minimum level for THC (for example, 50mg/ml).
