I was recently diagnosed with Lupus and am anxiously awaiting my Rheumatology appointment. While I have been waiting I have been in a lot of pain when I have my flares, so I have put in a request to see a pain management specialist. I told my husband AND my father this and they BOTH suggested I try CBD oil. What the what??? I have told my husband and father several times that since CBD/marijuana is federally ILLEGAL if I take a drug test and pop positive for it I could lose my license or have to report to TPAPN, I don't know which one is worse.
They both told me since I am not working that I should try the CBD oil. Uh, no. I am applying for telecommuting positions. What if I get an interview on Monday and they want me to take a drug test the same day? But I've been using the CBD oil so I have to reject the interview/job/etc all because I couldn't wait to get a legal prescription from a provider.
My husband, I will give him a pass. He is not the brightest crayon in the box. Never was and never will be. But my father, he has a bachelor's degree and has common sense. So I don't know why he doesn't understand this.
Yeah here's a message from a nurse in the land of Nazi Monitored Nurses,
Don't do it. It's not worth the risk!!! Maybe they don't test for whatever the active ingredient in this latest wonder snake oil. However, just about any nurse in a monitoring program will tell you one of our great fears in life is that of the false positive pee test. So unless this wonder-product from the land of zero-proof of efficacy actually cures cancer and makes the blind see and you happen to be a blind cancer patient stay away from it. A false positive is treated exactly the same as a positive by these BONs and you will be given an offer you can't refuse of either your nursing license or monitoring for years and years.
Personally I could care less if a nurse smokes dope so long as they are not impaired at work but that is NOT the reality of the situation. For those who choose to take this wonder supplement & pop a false positive I'll be saving a seat at the required nurse support meeting. Start saving now cause you will need lots of cash
Yeah here's a message from a nurse in the land of Nazi Monitored Nurses,
Don't do it. It's not worth the risk!!! Maybe they don't test for whatever the active ingredient in this latest wonder snake oil. However, just about any nurse in a monitoring program will tell you one of our great fears in life is that of the false positive pee test. So unless this wonder-product from the land of zero-proof of efficacy actually cures cancer and makes the blind see and you happen to be a blind cancer patient stay away from it. A false positive is treated exactly the same as a positive by these BONs and you will be given an offer you can't refuse of either your nursing license or monitoring for years and years.
Personally I could care less if a nurse smokes dope so long as they are not impaired at work but that is NOT the reality of the situation. For those who choose to take this wonder supplement & pop a false positive I'll be saving a seat at the required nurse support meeting. Start saving now cause you will need lots of cash
Amen!!!!
It don't matter what you got stuck in this sewer to begin with. This'll just give them another reason to keep you there.
I work with a nurse, yes a nurse that swears by this stuff. So much so that she tries to push it on other people at work. She swears up and down that it's hemp oil and has nothing in it that can make you impaired which is probably true and nothing in it that can cause a positive drug test which may or may not be true. Either way, no way am I risking it.
It's certainly reasonable to want to avoid any marijuana derivatives out of personal choice or to avoid employment issues, but just to clarify you're not going to "pop positive" for marijuana on a drug test because you take CBD since drug tests don't test for CBD, they test for THC.
This is actually not accurate. There are different kinds of CBD oil. The full spectrum ones do have THC in them, albeit less than 0.3%, and many people have found out to their detriment that it does indeed pop positive on a drug screen. It depends on the brand you use and how long and how frequently you've been taking it. Some people do and some people don't...too much of a risk in my opinion. There are isolate CBD oils that have had the THC removed, but again, because this is not terribly well monitored or standardized, you could theoretically buy an isolate thinking you're ok and then pop positive for a test. I have read of people doing so...they took an isolate thinking they'd be fine but then failed a drug test.
I find the subject interesting, and have been curious about it because I suffer from severe chronic pain, but during my research and reading about the possibility of failing a screen....no thanks. Too much of a risk.
The war on weed kinda reminds me of the embargo against Cuba. Most of the people who gave a darn about these hot topic items from the 1960's are now either dead or drooling their last days away in a long term care setting. I think if weed, THC pills or whatever helps with chronic pain then let it be so. In fact I think recreational weed use is nobodies business. I work in an ER and have dealt with a zillion mean drunks. Not so for the dope smokers. They are OK in my book. Heck its gotta be better than opioids for pain management
The war on weed kinda reminds me of the embargo against Cuba. Most of the people who gave a darn about these hot topic items from the 1960's are now either dead or drooling their last days away in a long term care setting. I think if weed, THC pills or whatever helps with chronic pain then let it be so. In fact I think recreational weed use is nobodies business. I work in an ER and have dealt with a zillion mean drunks. Not so for the dope smokers. They are OK in my book. Heck its gotta be better than opioids for pain management
I agree 100%. I feel like there are some people who get worried if they don't have anything to worry about, and god forbid if a bunch of people are happy and comfortable. That will never keep the masses lean and hungry! It's a ridiculous situation. We're not far away from full legalization now, but expect the BON to continue their current stance.
So long as the feds keep up this asinine drug war that only they seem to know that they haven't lost the whole "reefer madness" insanity shall continue
In the last year and a half, I've done a lot of reading and studying on the topic of medical cannabis because I live and work in a legal state (CA) and I teach advanced practice nursing. Many health-related educational institutions here in CA and elsewhere are beginning to require the integration of cannabis information into their curricula.
No matter how you feel about cannabis, personally or politically, the fact is that our patients are using it. This is especially true in legal states, but it is also true elsewhere. That being the case, we can't do our jobs properly as nurses if we aren't able to engage with our patients in rational, well informed, conversations about their use of cannabis. As nurses we absolutely MUST know how to assess, monitor, and educate our patients about responsible cannabis use.
Cannabis in all its forms, including topically applied CBD products, are powerful and can interact with prescription medications. Another concern that does not get enough attention in my opinion is the purity of the cannabis products available-patients who choose to use cannabis need to ask about whether and how the whole-plant products they are purchasing are grown and tested for purity, as increasing demand and lack of standardized regulation has allowed many sub-standard products (contaminated with herbicides, pesticides, and bacteria) into the marketplace.
If you have not learned about cannabis in the classroom, and even if you have, cannabis can be a fascinating topic to seek out as you fulfill your lifelong learning requirements. I encourage any and all currently licensed nurses to choose cannabis-related CEUs for license maintenance (there are many resources available for this). Studying cannabis from an academic/professional perspective can help bring you up to speed on the existing science and history of medical uses for this incredibly fascinating and useful substance. I wasn't always pro-cannabis; the necessity of learning about it because I'm a nurse caused me to dig deep and reevaluate my opinions.
Eventually, I believe cannabis will emerge as a viable alternative for pain management. (And, goodness knows, we need all the alternatives to opioids we can get!). But until we get there, if you're a nurse considering using cannabis while maintaining an active license, I think you're right to abstain-it's better to stay safe than be sorry.
I have a couple colleagues who take CBD oil for achy knees, on the bottle it says 100% THC free, but who knows. Then again I have several colleagues who are pot heads, and smoke weed on their days off, pretty sure it has THC in it. I would think the only time you need to be worried about being tested is if you appear impaired at work. Then you'll get hung out to dry.
I have a couple colleagues who take CBD oil for achy knees, on the bottle it says 100% THC free, but who knows. Then again I have several colleagues who are pot heads, and smoke weed on their days off, pretty sure it has THC in it. I would think the only time you need to be worried about being tested is if you appear impaired at work. Then you'll get hung out to dry.
Cheers
Not the case. If you have an incident at work, particularly an injury, many hospitals require a drug screen as part of the employee health investigation. Honestly, if you're toking some weed on your down time and they can prove it, I imagine securing worker's compensation, even for a legitimate, non-impaired injury would be a nightmare. They probably test out of financial motives, but regardless of their rationale, you will end up in front of the BON.
My hospital does drug screens on any staff who get injured, whether it's throwing out your back, getting a needle stick, or spraining your ankle because your new clogs don't fit right and you rolled your ankle walking the halls.
I had a patient scratch me in a manner that drew blood and was deep-ish. I wasn't concerned, but my coworker was because the patient had pretty nasty nails. Ended up being sent to employee health to get it checked. Part of that exam was a mandatory drug screen. Apparently, it doesn't matter how small the injury, you get to pee in a cup. I'm totally clean, so it was a non-issue. Another time a computer fell off the wall onto my foot and broke a bone in my foot. Got to pee in a cup then as well. Good thing I was clean.
But I feel the need to point out that there are plenty of ways to be cornered into a drug screen other than diversion or impairment.
Heck, last month a nurse on my unit accused another nurse of smelling like alcohol. She didn't smell of anything but rosemary and sandalwood to me, but regardless, she bought an escorted trip to employee health for alcohol and drug testing. Wasn't acting impaired in the slightest, but to another nurse, she smelled funny. Thankfully, the nurse in question was totally clean.
Trust me, having faced the BON myself, I wouldn't risk it as long as my license was active.
The problem is, CBD production is not checked/certified and there are more ways to make it than to cook an apple pie. Therefore, some manufacturers' products can cause THC tests to be truly and undoubtedly positive, both urine and hair. I see it happening almost every week.
Rocknurse said:
This is actually not accurate. There are different kinds of CBD oil. The full spectrum ones do have THC in them, albeit less than 0.3%, and many people have found out to their detriment that it does indeed pop positive on a drug screen. It depends on the brand you use and how long and how frequently you've been taking it. Some people do and some people don't...too much of a risk in my opinion. There are isolate CBD oils that have had the THC removed, but again, because this is not terribly well monitored or standardized, you could theoretically buy an isolate thinking you're ok and then pop positive for a test. I have read of people doing so...they took an isolate thinking they'd be fine but then failed a drug test.
I find the subject interesting, and have been curious about it because I suffer from severe chronic pain, but during my research and reading about the possibility of failing a screen....no thanks. Too much of a risk.
thatgirl2478 said:
I've never taken it but was told the same thing, but have heard from other people that they HAVE popped positive for THC even when using a CBD that's not supposed to have any...
catsmeow1972 said:
Given the destruction (in many cases overzealous or unwarranted) that has rained down upon some of us in our professional (and leached into our personal) lives, I think I can safely speak for the majority of us in this corner of AllNurses when I say "we ain't going anywhere near the stuff if there is even a tiny chance that something would be awry." As someone above said, in nursing the implications are much much higher and for those doing battle with addictions and/or thier state's discipline programs, the stakes are astronomical. So no, maybe it isn't "supposed to" but it can and does.....
OrganizedChaos said:
There is still THC in CBD, they don't remove it all.
The residual THC content of CBD products is actually highly regulated in a number of states, with each batch-lot undergoing laboratory GS testing for residual THC levels, in which case there isn't actually any mystery about how much THC is in the product, and from that the amount required to exceed the 50ng/ml testing threshold can be calculated. The Upper end limit is 0.3%, in which case you would still need to take about 4 times the typical amount to exceed the testing threshold, however better quality CBD isolates are widely available and have less than 0.02% THC, which would require really going out of your way to consume massive amounts. You would also need to consider the testing used that your job and license would be subject to since employers and BONs are increasingly deferring to active THC levels rather than metabolite levels.
As I said in previous post, it's certainly reasonable to avoid these products all together out of worry for one's job, but it's also not as though it's not possible to make a reasoned decision on this based on measurable data rather than the more hysteria based rationale that seems to dominate this topic.
I'm too tired to figure out to to quote multiple posters so I'll just type my thing. I like what Lane Therall had to say. Look at the whole topic from an educational point of view. Regardless of our personal views on cannabis, it's here to stay and we'd do well by our patients to know what the effects are. It is also a chance for us to educate the patient on the idea that if they are going to utilize these products to be aware of thier sources.
Having said that, those of us in monitoring misery, for whatever reason need to avoid such things obviously for the professional reasons that other posters have mentioned but also because these programs don't make reasoned decisions based on measurable data on anything, so why would they do that for this?
SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN
1,847 Posts
Yeah here's a message from a nurse in the land of Nazi Monitored Nurses,
Don't do it. It's not worth the risk!!! Maybe they don't test for whatever the active ingredient in this latest wonder snake oil. However, just about any nurse in a monitoring program will tell you one of our great fears in life is that of the false positive pee test. So unless this wonder-product from the land of zero-proof of efficacy actually cures cancer and makes the blind see and you happen to be a blind cancer patient stay away from it. A false positive is treated exactly the same as a positive by these BONs and you will be given an offer you can't refuse of either your nursing license or monitoring for years and years.
Personally I could care less if a nurse smokes dope so long as they are not impaired at work but that is NOT the reality of the situation. For those who choose to take this wonder supplement & pop a false positive I'll be saving a seat at the required nurse support meeting. Start saving now cause you will need lots of cash