Delta 8 THC now federally legal, what does this mean for nurses?

Delta 8 THC now federally legal, what does this mean for nurses?

With burnout, stress, and fatigue wreaking havoc on all Healthcare providers, especially nurses, when will we be able to consume products that are legal for the general public but could destroy a nurse's entire career simply because of random urine drug testing? Just because you might fail a urine drug test for THC does not indicate that you were under the influence at work. You could have just been enjoying a decompressing weekend and then get hit with a random drug test 5 days afterwards and be facing a license revocation because of what you do in your off time. What are some thoughts about this?

Federal Appeals Court Rules That Delta-8 THC Is Legal | Forbes.com

31 Answers

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
On 5/30/2022 at 8:01 PM, Tweety said:

I think it should be legal for healthcare providers.  But really what's to stop a nurse that's having a horrible stressful shift from popping a gummy to calm down and then become impaired.  So I'm a bit torn about it.  

IMHO, the employer thinks about it from a much different perspective.  It would be a liability for a nurse associated with this patient turned up a positive screen.  It's not the world I would want to live in that drug screening is done at the drop of the hat, but you can't underestimate the tendency of staff lawyers looking to spread the liability in a lawsuit.  And the damn fact of the situation is that there is poor correlation between the blood levels of THC and psychomotor coordination - it's highly individualized.  I don't know if you are old enough to remember the "businessman's trip" of the 70's - DMT.  It was intense but only lasted for an hour.  But, anyway, it's hard not to be conflicted about this except I don't think industrialized pot is a solution for any society.  

Specializes in Love my nursing home job..

The folks calling weed evil and all those outdated dangerous/addictive/lead-you-to-the-path-of-ruin things need to grow up. Pot's been around -- heavily around -- in the US for DECADES now, and ONLY because it became so apparent it WASN'T all those things did states finally start legalizing it. (Look into the purposeful racism in the earliest days of demonizing pot.)

I've always said, too, that my mother was an alcoholic, so when I was young I hated alcohol and preferred pot. You like beer? Great. Some like pot. You like liquor? Great. Some like pot. You decompress with green tea and yoga? Great. Some like pot.

Finally, cannabis should've been taken off Schedule 1 decades ago, and that's the main hindrance to the current questions of having it in your system even days later than can still affect your license.

Write your elected officials and demand they remove pot from Schedule 1, and only vote for those who will fight for it. 

On 6/2/2022 at 5:12 PM, Em1995 said:

As a family nurse practitioner, I certify patients for medical cannabis. Those who see it as evil are not educated about it. It has greatly helped hundreds of my patients. Studies also show that THC may attack cancer cells. However, they are not complete studies yet. The history of cannabis caused many myths that are still alive today. Racism and greed played a huge role in criminalizing cannabis. 

Thank you!   Cannabis has helped so many people, it’s a shame that nurses are shut out from using this beneficial medication.  

I have bad neuropathy from years of being on my feet and 2 foot surgeries.   I’m still a working nurse and wish I could use this natural medication in the evening instead of gabapentin and handfuls of ibuprofen.   

Nurses can use hydrocodone, benzos,  and other narcotics while on-the-job as long as they have a RX and are “not impaired”.   High levels on a drug test cannot even be reported to management by the MRO if there is a RX.   Legal cannabis is still seen as a “demon weed” and just a trace amount THC metabolite in urine, even with a RX, will cost you your career!   Shame.   

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

You said it yourself. THC stays in your system as a detectable substance for a considerable amount of time.  There's no way to prove, at least with current testing exactly when you consumed THC based on a positive result. So as far as your employer is concerned, and the BON depending on various states polices, they have no way to know based on that positive test if you were impaired on the clock or not so they will err on the side of caution and assume you were. 

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

Interesting thing about Mary Jane, who according to John Lennon, was a shame because she had a pain at the party...

In the days before randomly repeated drug tests, I did my fair share of the Herbal Jazz Cigarette. In the late '80's, I was offered a position in CD treatment, and initially continued its use. I began feeling hypocritical and ceased its use, along with alcohol.

It was quite a departure for me and I found the ways and means of attaining an altered state of consciousness, ones I've used for years. I am by no means a tea totaler, and enjoy my two glasses of dry red wine every night with dinner. But pot wasn't readily available to me and I didn't really miss it.

The first Summer of my retirement found me visiting an old friend who offered me some of his home grown to go. I thought, "What the heck? I don't need to be concerned about a dirty urine drop". Later, in my art room amidst burning incense and the B side of Abbey Road spinning on the turntable, I imbibed.

I experienced the good ole buzz, but something had changed- the high was not as I had remembered. In fact, my natural highs are much more enjoyable.

So, two years later, there in a little metal box with a lock sits almost all the weed my friend gave me.

Some things, like our old bell-bottomed jeans, we grow out of.

Specializes in Emergency, ICU, Psych, Hospice.

As a family nurse practitioner, I certify patients for medical cannabis. Those who see it as evil are not educated about it. It has greatly helped hundreds of my patients. Studies also show that THC may attack cancer cells. However, they are not complete studies yet. The history of cannabis caused many myths that are still alive today. Racism and greed played a huge role in criminalizing cannabis. 

Specializes in ER.

Pot is the evil weed that causes moral turpitude, and wanton moral decay and degradation of souls. 

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
9 hours ago, Emergent said:

Pot is the evil weed that causes moral turpitude, and wanton moral decay and degradation of souls. 

You've been watching "Refer Madness" again, haven't you, Emergent?

Bottom line: Choose your priorities. If pursuing a career as a caregiver is the priority, do so. If doing drugs on the weekend is more important, then go do that.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I think it should be legal for healthcare providers.  But really what's to stop a nurse that's having a horrible stressful shift from popping a gummy to calm down and then become impaired.  So I'm a bit torn about it.  

Specializes in ER.

The evil weed! It is a particularly harmful substance,  since it is still a detectable substance, much more than the benign ETOH. Especially for fatter people I've been informed...

 

Specializes in Geriatrics.

I personally don’t care about weed or alcohol although I admit I don’t really do either, maybe a drink once In a while in a social setting…

if your using anything as a crutch to decompress maybe that’s a sign that mental health should be a priority. Whether counseling or Lexapro. Workplace should cover this as part of the EAP.

Specializes in NICU.
On 5/31/2022 at 6:04 PM, Davey Do said:

Interesting thing about Mary Jane, who according to John Lennon, was a shame because she had a pain at the party...

Was this the same party that Tom Petty was at when he said "Last dance with Mary Jane. One more time to kill the pain"?

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