Marijuana on the job

[MHarryE]

that's the big question, and how does an employer deal with false positives on a test that shows use of a legit medicine (100 % CDB) which not only does not impair, it actually helps the employee do their job because they aren't in so much pain. If you have never experienced severe arthritis, and/or in my case, degenerative disc disease, this may be hard to understand.

Went to local ag extension meeting yesterday and one of the topics was growing hemp. Huge interest in it, despite all the hoops and red tape involved, can't get your crop insured, if it tests over a minute amount of THC you have to burn the field, etc, but what I found interesting is that there is so much interest in growing hemp for medical CBD, the farmers are worried the price will drop like everything else and once again there will be no money in it.

She I was 25 I was diagnosed with an anxiety problem that has been treated with anxiety medication ever since. It first became a noted problem when I failed my induction. I had suffered with the problem all my life but it took an old country doc to prescribe a med that changed my entire life. The solution has been taking benzodiazepines for nearly 50 years now, and with every doctor change and government edict to wean people off them, I’ve suffered, not from withdrawal but from the panic attacks that result that are virtually disabling - tremors, vomiting, etc. passing the zero tolerance tests has been easy as they always show positive only for benzodiazepines and for that I have doctors orders. My wife’s nephew, suffering from melanoma, and I talk about our anxiety problems as being in remission, he has that cloud over him that a third bout is looming. His layman’s summary of our benzodiazepine usage is like a small glass of wine but without it we can’t function.

In February I attended a forage conference where the main speaker had initiated growing hemp. He is now chairman of the Minnesota hemp growers. He said this hemp has such a minute amount of THC that one couldn’t get high they smoked all the hemp grown in our state last year. It is strictly controlled and one needs their market established before they can start growing. Risks are high, but rewards are also high. A short time later I read about the trucker hauling this type hemp from Oregon or Washington to a processing plant in Colorado and getting caught in Idaho where even this non-smokable hemp is forbidden. Not sure how this case progressed but the process facility needed their product, the trucker needed to get out of jail and get his truck back, all due to a product sold over the counter in the health products sections of most pharmacies. With the price of so many crops tanking one looks for opportunities and this caught my interest, but the hurdles are high.

Our area is iron mining and suffers from a manpower shortage. Listening to the old timers in the hospital waiting room talk (mining area equates to lung ailments mesothelioma, emphysema, lung cancer, and the like so waiting rooms are always filled). Overheard that 70% of applicants for these well paying jobs fail their drug screening. My friends who are miners say alcohol is by far the leader. Along with these the stories they have of the damage caused by impaired mine truck drivers. It’s no surprise operators want autonomous trucks.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I work at a nuke facility. CBD, THC, medical pain pills, poppy seed and just about any kind of prescribed and many OTC drugs are absolutely forbidden. There are no excuses, if you need to be on pain meds or anything similar you stay out on short term and if needed you transition to long term disability until your squared away. My buddy who is in my dept did a tangential (explosive) fracture in his lower leg while riding a dual sport and was off 7 months. That is how it is in a drug free world.

I will not be in a building with a person smoking weed. I make far to much money to risk my families income due to partying. I personally care not what you do, but please leave me out of it.

 

[daugen]

please leave me out of it. I'm confused as to why you think anyone is including you in anything.
Larry, in your bio you seem proud of your beer drinking. Do you ever drive after having one or more beers?
Are you as judgmental with yourself as you seem with others? A huge number of us have to take prescription drugs for
legitimate medical reasons, not to get high, particularly as we get older.
Your approach seems awfully harsh. I'm genuinely glad for you that you are in such good health you can avoid prescription drugs.
Wait until you get older.

 

[aczlan]

Your approach seems awfully harsh. I'm genuinely glad for you that you are in such good health you can avoid prescription drugs.
Wait until you get older.

As I understand it, Larry works at a nuclear power plant and those rules are set by his employer who (due to the risks of their work) forbids any substances that could alter their mental state and has a zero tolerance policy for such substances.
That is Larry's way to making sure to not fall afoul of their policies.

Aaron Z

 

[Industrial Toys]

I once worked for one of the largest Fire Alarm companies in this country. I was the new guys and the other young guys often drove around doing drug deals with me in tow. I just kept my mouth shut. They would show up at the most pricey real estate and hotels in the country for a service call, without as much as a screwdriver! Fortunately I got a job up north in short order.

 

[daugen]

As I understand it, Larry works at a nuclear power plant and those rules are set by his employer who (due to the risks of their work) forbids any substances that could alter their mental state and has a zero tolerance policy for such substances.
That is Larry's way to making sure to not fall afoul of their policies.

Aaron Z

Thanks Aaron, and I respect that Larry has to do this, since he works in a zero tolerance atmosphere.
I do believe, however, that nuke plant regulations are not the norm for all industries and that in the real world, there is more grey
than black or white. I'm honestly more concerned over mental illness on the job than I am marijuana. And no, I don't think anyone should smoke grass/impairing substances while on the job. But there's a big difference between a nuke plant operator up in that control room or a semi truck driver than an office worker filing receipts all day. One can get you killed, one can mess up the accounts.
There is a place for zero tolerance, many places actually, fully agree with that.

 

[MossRoad]

You also have to remember that if Larry goes to a party with friends, at a friend's house, and someone lights up a joint, and Larry breaths it in, and the next day at work, someone accidentally drops a wrench on his head, he probably has to get drug tested even though it's not his fault. Bye bye job.... so as soon as he sees someone doing that, it's time to leave.

So, he has to make some choices.

However, I've seen quite a few folks in this thread that still think CDB gives you a buzz. It doesn't. Bake it into some cookies. Get some gummies. Only you ingest it. There's no 2nd hand smoke. Do some research before calling CBD users stoners.

 

[ultrarunner]

You also have to remember that if Larry goes to a party with friends, at a friend's house, and someone lights up a joint, and Larry breaths it in, and the next day at work, someone accidentally drops a wrench on his head, he probably has to get drug tested even though it's not his fault. Bye bye job.... so as soon as he sees someone doing that, it's time to leave.

So, he has to make some choices.

However, I've seen quite a few folks in this thread that still think CDB gives you a buzz. It doesn't. Bake it into some cookies. Get some gummies. Only you ingest it. There's no 2nd hand smoke. Do some research before calling CBD users stoners.

This is becoming a real problem here in the SF Bay Area... people opening smoking so you often cannot escape the drift... like riding the subway with several lighting up or walking down the street in Berkeley or even in apartment buildings...

There is a Sports Bar near work and sometimes if the wind is just right the smell has even been picked up in one of the Hospital HVAC ducts...

Hard to escape it when out in public...

Police could care less unless you are in a traffic accident or maybe in close proximity to infants/children...

Years ago when drug testing was just starting one of the employees got into trouble... every morning he would come to work with a poppy seed bagel and that was enough... and there were times when the Hospital would buy bagels and they would arrive with poppy seeds...

The ironic thing is tobacco smoking will get you ticketed... but pot smoke is largely overlooked?

 

[MossRoad]

This is becoming a real problem here in the SF Bay Area... people opening smoking so you often cannot escape the drift... like riding the subway with several lighting up or walking down the street in Berkeley or even in apartment buildings...

There is a Sports Bar near work and sometimes if the wind is just right the smell has even been picked up in one of the Hospital HVAC ducts...

Hard to escape it when out in public...

Police could care less unless you are in a traffic accident or maybe in close proximity to infants/children...

Years ago when drug testing was just starting one of the employees got into trouble... every morning he would come to work with a poppy seed bagel and that was enough... and there were times when the Hospital would buy bagels and they would arrive with poppy seeds...

The ironic thing is tobacco smoking will get you ticketed... but pot smoke is largely overlooked?

We've had several local news stories over the years about poppy seed muffins.

I recall one national story just a couple months ago about a pregnant woman that went into labor, went to the hospital, delivered her baby, all normal. The hospital is required to test for drugs and diseases. She came up positive for opioids, so they took her baby to child protective services..... she had a muffin with poppy seeds that morning before she went into labor. Took her several days to get her baby back.

 

[MossRoad]

Heck, I'm gonna eat a lemon poppy seed mini-muffin right now! :licking: