evidence that my brain is under-developed

[lizpoona]

I think I'm stupid. I may or may not be offered a well-paying, full-time job within the next week or two that requires a drug test... and I got high today. am I totally and completely doomed?

I was just too interested in having fun and less mindful of potential consequences. Should I start a strict regimen ASAP to get the THC out, just in case, or it is just hopeless?


needless to say, lesson learned. The stress is not worth it.

[Rainbow Dolphins]

Yeah I'd start a cleansing regimen. If you've got a week or two you can probably manage to pass. I am not entirely sure how to do this because I've never needed to before, but I'm sure google can help you out.

[DruidX]

One would assume that lots and lots of water (or at least squash/ juice) would do the trick. It's what I do when I've eat too much gluten/ dairy and am feeling rubbish.

[Aum]

THC is fat soluble, meaning that water based cleanses might not work. THC lingers in the body for up to a month. If they do hair testing, it is much longer.

If possible, get a friend who doesn't smoke pot to give you a urine sample to bring with you to the testing facility. (Keep it refrigerated until you go.)

Or buy one of those THC cleanse kits... but I've never used one so I can't attest to their effectiveness.

Good luck! And no, you're not stupid. Drug testing for jobs is stupid. It should be none of their damn business what you do in your spare time as long as you are performing your duties at work adequately.

[great girl wonder]

My parents smoked pot all the time and always managed to pass drug tests by using the cleansing kits, and that was in the 90's so one would think they make better cleansing kits now?
Does the drug test have to be done in 2 weeks or could you find a way to put it off a little longer to make sure you'll cleaned your system?

[helium]

NORML has a good page with information about testing for THC: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4934

Otherwise, I've heard things like drink vinegar, exercise, lots of water, all of which the NORML page say may or may not work, but still might be worth a shot. If you don't smoke too much and your test isn't for a week or two you've got a better chance than if you smoke all the time. Definitely do not smoke again until the test.

[monk]

If you just smoked it once you should be okay, but increasing your fluid intake is a good idea.

The NormL website poos on Niacin but either that or pure luck has allowed me to pass urine tests on three separate occasions Niacin can be found in cranberry juice or at your local vitamin store. It is my understanding that Niacin raises the ph level of your urine in order to provide a false negative to the tests. Also the cranberry juice will keep your urine yellow despite the high rate of fluid pouring through your system.

Another piece of advice that the NormL website agrees with is not to give them your first urine of day since it has been concentrating in your system overnight. if your test is in the morning get up an few hours early and start fluid intake.

If you are really freaking out for around $20 (walgreens) buy a home test and see if you even need to go through all that BS

[spacefem]

How often do you get high?

For my job they did a hair test, and they were looking for repeat use, they didn't really care if you just randomly got high one weekend.

but it goes without saying... might be good to avoid smoking it up for the next week or two

[cwbyrvr]

If possible, get a friend who doesn't smoke pot to give you a urine sample to bring with you to the testing facility. (Keep it refrigerated until you go.)

In my experience with drug testing, they take the temperature of the sample first thing, if it's too far off from normal body temp they're going to fail you and you'd probably get into further trouble for trying to cheat. I wouldn't recommend this.

[letthemimejive]

If possible, get a friend who doesn't smoke pot to give you a urine sample to bring with you to the testing facility. (Keep it refrigerated until you go.)

In my experience with drug testing, they take the temperature of the sample first thing, if it's too far off from normal body temp they're going to fail you and you'd probably get into further trouble for trying to cheat. I wouldn't recommend this.

The best way to get around this is to put it in a ziploc bag and tape it to your stomach, so it's warmed by your body heat. If you're really concerned, ^that is the way I would go. Typical employment drug tests aren't going to observe you pee (like the military does), and the only prevention measure I've run in to is being told to leave my purse outside.

Xinzang has it right- THC is fat soluble, and the amount of liquid you drink in the days/weeks proceeding doesn't make much of a difference. It's the actual day of that drinking lots of water matters. The idea is to dilute your urine so the concentration of whatever drug is lessened.

If you're going to use your own urine, get up early, drink lots of water, and pee a couple times before you have to give your sample.

You should be fine though, the "THC stays in your system for weeks!!!" thing is mostly for heavy smokers. You'll probably be safe after a week . Good luck on the job opp, let us know how it goes!

[Sonic#]

The best way to get around this is to put it in a ziploc bag and tape it to your stomach, so it's warmed by your body heat.

I'm sorry, I have to be 14 for a moment and say, "EWWWWWW."

Anyway, I hope that the job offer goes well!

[miketheheadlesschicken]

The NormL website poos on Niacin but either that or pure luck has allowed me to pass urine tests on three separate occasions Niacin can be found in cranberry juice or at your local vitamin store. It is my understanding that Niacin raises the ph level of your urine in order to provide a false negative to the tests. Also the cranberry juice will keep your urine yellow despite the high rate of fluid pouring through your system.

Cranberry juice and niacin supplements is the regimen I've heard from smoking friends as well.

[lizpoona]

The last time I smoked was a couple months ago. So really me getting high is a once-every-2-months kinda thing.


Thanks for all the tips... I wonder, if I'm preparing a week ahead of time, is it worth to stick to a regimen that early, or should I really concentrate on the day of or the day before?

[Rainbow Dolphins]

I would say start hitting the cranberry juice now, spoon, and go with lots of water the morning of. You can also get cranberry supplement pills that might work?

[God is an Englishman]

Blame poppyseeds!

Other than that read this article,

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/a/marijuana_test.htm '

Or this one:

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4934

But I asked my mate who works in the drug test industry (without mentioning names) and there's not much you can do if you have it this coming week, apart from whats stated already. Try delay the interview for after 10 to 13 days, then you should be able to get away with it.

Good luck.

[ladypenelope]

If possible, get a friend who doesn't smoke pot to give you a urine sample to bring with you to the testing facility. (Keep it refrigerated until you go.)

In my experience with drug testing, they take the temperature of the sample first thing, if it's too far off from normal body temp they're going to fail you and you'd probably get into further trouble for trying to cheat. I wouldn't recommend this.

The best way to get around this is to put it in a ziploc bag and tape it to your stomach, so it's warmed by your body heat. If you're really concerned, ^that is the way I would go. Typical employment drug tests aren't going to observe you pee (like the military does), and the only prevention measure I've run in to is being told to leave my purse outside.

Xinzang has it right- THC is fat soluble, and the amount of liquid you drink in the days/weeks proceeding doesn't make much of a difference. It's the actual day of that drinking lots of water matters. The idea is to dilute your urine so the concentration of whatever drug is lessened.

If you're going to use your own urine, get up early, drink lots of water, and pee a couple times before you have to give your sample.

You should be fine though, the "THC stays in your system for weeks!!!" thing is mostly for heavy smokers. You'll probably be safe after a week . Good luck on the job opp, let us know how it goes!

The thing you have to be careful of is many testing laboratories have systems in place to detect adulteration/dilution of your sample, depending on the screening process they use. They may test for things like pH, urea, creatinine levels all of which have acceptable limits and if anything falls outside of these limits they may not test the sample/issue a result.

One thing to also keep in mind is the lab will have cut-off levels, so you might screen positive for a metabolite of THC (they wont be looking for the parent drug in your urine) but be below this level so they wont report it. If it was a one-off and the test is in a couple of weeks (providing you don't get high again) you should be fine.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me, this sort of thing (although not pre-employment specifically) is kind of what I do for a job...

[kelsa]

The NormL website poos on Niacin but either that or pure luck has allowed me to pass urine tests on three separate occasions Niacin can be found in cranberry juice or at your local vitamin store. It is my understanding that Niacin raises the ph level of your urine in order to provide a false negative to the tests. Also the cranberry juice will keep your urine yellow despite the high rate of fluid pouring through your system.

Cranberry juice and niacin supplements is the regimen I've heard from smoking friends as well.

We drug test where I work(in a program for youth that is zero tolerance) and we restrict access to niacin for this exact reason. There are other products as well, like goldenseal, that supposedly help. The testing facility will be able to tell if you tamper with the urine too much and depending on the testing facility, taping the urine on you wouldn't be good, since you have to remove your outer layers, pat down your clothing and then pee while someone is listening outside. I just got a drug screen for a job and wasn't concerned about this particular issue, but looking back on it, sneaking in urine would have been impossible, but your testing facility may vary.

If you do get the job, get info on how they do drug testing- are you subject to random or scheduled drug tests throughout your employment? Getting hired, then fired three months later because of a bad drug screen would suck.

[SakuraSong]

I had no idea regular civilian jobs were this strict on drug screening tests. The one time I went to get tested, they just handed me a tube and opened a closet.

I'd really love to see how poppyseed bagel lovers handle drug testings.

[cwbyrvr]

I've had to do drug tests twice, first time to get my current job, and another time when I got hurt on the job and they wanted to discredit me so they didn't have to pay my bills, heh. (It's not what it sounds like, standard procedure is to take a drug test if you're making a worker's comp claim, but that is what it really boils down to). Both times the place I was sent to had me remove any extra layers, lock up any bags, did a quick pat-down, and sent me into the bathroom. I wasn't allowed to flush the toilet until after they had done a check of the bathroom after I gave my sample. They took the temperature and checked the PH level of the sample before sending it to be tested. I don't really see how you could cheat the test this way, but maybe I'm not thinking creatively enough.

I think trying to actively cheat it would be a bad idea, but nothing's wrong with trying to cleanse your system a bit before.

[monk]

yeah, I would hesitate on being a urine smuggler unless you have some scouting knowledge about the facility you're testing at, but there is nothing illegal about taking niacin and cranberry juice, it's your body and their problem and at worst the test is "inconclusive" and they restest you several days later (which gives your system that extra few days to be clean)

[Aum]

The thing you have to be careful of is many testing laboratories have systems in place to detect adulteration/dilution of your sample, depending on the screening process they use. They may test for things like pH, urea, creatinine levels all of which have acceptable limits and if anything falls outside of these limits they may not test the sample/issue a result.

One thing to also keep in mind is the lab will have cut-off levels, so you might screen positive for a metabolite of THC (they wont be looking for the parent drug in your urine) but be below this level so they wont report it. If it was a one-off and the test is in a couple of weeks (providing you don't get high again) you should be fine.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me, this sort of thing (although not pre-employment specifically) is kind of what I do for a job...

Great info! Thanks for sharing. I love learning this kind of stuff. Some people are like, "Ewww, piss." But I'm studying medicine, so I'm like, "Yes! Piss!"

[Enigma]

This is illegal in Canada unless they can prove it's necessary for the particular job BTW.

[Aum]

I didn't know liz was in Canada.

If she is, then drug testing is not legal unless it's for government or a high security position.

[The Other Lizard]

If she is, then drug testing is not legal unless it's for government or a high security position.

Not even for most government jobs.

But she's not in Canada, I think Enigma was trying to make the point that this *should* be illegal.

[SakuraSong]

I don't see why it should, though. It's uncomfortable for a prospective employee, but if the company wants to take the initiative to screen (and is willing to pay for it), then why can't they screen however they want to? Even if the procedure is invasive, it's just to ensure that the sample remains your own, and I don't see why there is anything wrong with that.