{"id":51299,"date":"2017-08-24T14:19:41","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T14:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/?p=51299"},"modified":"2023-08-23T08:18:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T13:18:03","slug":"marijuana-excuses-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/blogs\/marijuana-excuses-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana Excuses"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\u201cBut I Only Used One Time, Thirty Days Ago\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When employers feel pressured to loosen-up their drug and alcohol policies to provide more room for the use of marijuana, one popular argument is that presence-in-system testing simply is not fair. We\u2019ve all heard the outcry, \u201cAn employee can be fired for smoking weed one time, thirty days ago, and that\u2019s just not right \u2026 they aren\u2019t even impaired!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This leads to demands for an impairment test \u2013 or \u2013 for an employer to \u201cprove\u201d impairment before taking action based on a drug test result.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

These arguments and questions seem reasonable until the truth gets involved.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We essentially have two separate issues to unravel in this conversation.\u00a0 We\u2019ll start with the first, which is the \u201cthirty days ago\u201d scenario for a marijuana drug test.\u00a0 The second – a moment of opportunity is covered below.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

One of the most widely misunderstood and often repeated myths is that one-time marijuana use can show up on a drug test thirty days later. This is tantamount to the ultimate trick-question. Far more people fail to see the problems with the statement than those who might fail the drug test.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The key tricky phrase is \u201cone-time use\u201d.\u00a0 The one-time user of cannabis is NEVER going to fail a drug test thirty days later. Not in urinalysis, not in hair, not in oral fluid, nor any other means of drug testing. \u00a0When using the standard cut-off levels, nearly all urine drug tests will be negative 3-5 days following use.[1]<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The confusion comes from chronic<\/em><\/strong> marijuana use.\u00a0 Those who partake of marijuana products with regularity (daily to weekly) are considered chronic or heavy users. The chronic user experiences saturation of Carboxy-THC which saturate the fat cells, to include the brain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When the heavy user ceases<\/em><\/strong> cannabis usage it could take weeks for the THC to leave the system and for that individual to produce a clean drug test result.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In no uncertain terms, when one hears the excuse, \u201cI used once thirty days ago\u201d \u2026 this is a falsehood. They may have ceased use thirty days ago, but they would have been a heavy marijuana user in order to obtain a positive drug test.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What this means for an employer: this is not a valid excuse for a failed drug test, there is more here than meets the eye.\u00a0 We will explore this further below.\u00a0 In the meantime, make sure your drug and alcohol policy is up-to-date and maintain your drug testing practices with confidence.\u00a0 A drug free workplace policy<\/a> is an important component of you business, learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Marijuana Positive – A Moment of Opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut I Only Used One Time, Thirty Days Ago\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

When an employer hears the excuse, \u201cI only used marijuana once thirty days ago\u201d as a reason for failing a\u00a0THC drug screen<\/strong>, it is a moment of opportunity to learn who your employee really is.<\/p>\r\n

It seems the justification for failing a drug test is widely used for two types of situations.\u00a0 The first (and most common) being an individual who is attempting to lay a foundation to claim drug testing is unfair, get their results invalidated and the company\u2019s drug testing policy changed. They may even be threatening a lawsuit.<\/p>\r\n

Many employers feel intimidated and panic, backing down and giving in. This is unfortunate because the science \u2013 and precedent setting court decisions are largely on the side of the employer.\u00a0 This type of individual is likely a regular marijuana user who is putting company safety at risk.\u00a0 No matter how long they have been using marijuana, they do experience impairment. The wise choice is to enforce the company drug and alcohol testing policy consistently in spite of an employee\u2019s effort to manipulate.<\/p>\r\n

The second example of an employee who uses the \u201cthirty days ago\u201d defense would be the individual who has ceased using marijuana and is truly striving to respect the company policy.\u00a0 How does an employer differentiate between the two and make good decisions about consequences?<\/p>\r\n

One solution lies in subsequent lab-based testing.\u00a0 The employee who is choosing to be compliant with the rules will likely be agreeable to a series of random tests over a period of several weeks or months that will eventually be THC free.\u00a0 In most cases, the manipulative employee who has no intention of ceasing their drug use will continue to bully and protest.<\/p>\r\n

In an era of change pertaining to marijuana laws it is imperative that employers know their rights and understand how THC is measured in a drug test as well as what solutions may be available in order to retain valuable employees. An informed TPA will be able to offer supportive solutions for maintaining an effective safe and drug free workplace policy, that helps employers to feel confident in knowing their lab-based drug test results are accurate and reliable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

[1] Workplace Drug Testing in the Era of Legal Marijuana, Institute for Behavior and Health (2014) Washington D.C.<\/p>\r\n

Learn More about Marijuana in the Workplace<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

By Jo McGuire<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

RealMarijuanaFacts.org<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Jo McGuire is a Denver native who served on the Colorado Governor\u2019s Task Force to implement the regulatory framework for Amendment 64, representing employer\u2019s rights to safe and drug free workplaces. As a national expert, she has authored dozens of articles for a variety of trade magazines and is a sought-after conference speaker and webinar presenter on the impact of marijuana in the workplace.\u00a0 Jo is the current executive director of the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) which is now also DATIA<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cSpeak the truth, even if your voice shakes\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Maggie Kuhn<\/p>\r\n

Contact Jo McGuire
jo@jomcguire.org<\/a>
719-290-0839<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

www.jomcguire.org<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Follow Jo McGuire on Facebook!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/5Minutes.Courage<\/a><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut I Only Used One Time, Thirty Days Ago\u201d When employers feel pressured to loosen-up their drug and alcohol policies to provide more room for the use of marijuana, one popular argument is that presence-in-system testing simply is not fair. We\u2019ve all heard the outcry, \u201cAn employee can be fired for smoking weed one time, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":53192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118020,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51299\/revisions\/118020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationaldrugscreening.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}