The laws surrounding medical and recreational cannabis products have been in flux for over 10 years now in the United States. Each state has its own rules, regulations, and laws surrounding the byproducts of cannabis, and this includes CBD.
For athletes and those whose employers require either random drug testing many, even who live in states where cannabis is legal in some capacity, wonder “Will CBD show up on a drug test?”
While the answer is fairly simple, there are a lot of things to consider, things that you’ll want to take into account. This article walks through each factor so you’ll be informed on the potential risks associated with CBD and drug tests.
Will CBD Oil Show up on a Drug Test?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is just one of around 400 chemical compounds in the cannabis plant. The more popular, and until recently better-known compound, is that of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
THC is the compound that gives you a high when consumed and is responsible in large part for cannabis’s psychoactive properties. The stigma, reputation, and litigation around legalizing cannabis had a lot to do with how THC affects the body.
Quest Diagnostics and most other pre-employment and sports anti-doping agencies do monitor THC levels in their standard test. So while CBD won’t show up on a drug test, THC will.
Most CBD products do contain a trace amount of THC. This leads to those concerned about passing employment or athletic drug tests to wonder if the THC in CBD oil is enough to cause a potential problem.
How Much THC is in CBD Oil?
Most of the CBD Oil products currently on the market are what’s known as Full Spectrum CBD. This means that they come from the hemp plant and can contain a maximum of .03% of THC. The hemp plant is a special strain of cannabis known to be high in CBD and low in TCH.
According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the term Industrial Hemp is applied to any cannabis plant with less than three-tenths of a percent of THC.
Using any CBD Oil from hemp should give you only a very insignificant amount of THC, far less than what would trigger a positive drug test in any but the most extreme quantities of use. Even a 100mg dose of CBD would contain a maximum of 3mg THC.
Types of CBD Oil to Consider
There are three main types of CBD Oil and the difference comes from how much of the hemp plant makes it to the oil that you consume. Let’s look at your buying options:
Full or Complete Spectrum
Full Spectrum, or our offering, Complete Spectrum, is CBD oil that has everything from the hemp plant in the oil. This means that the oil will often contain trace amounts of THC and thus carries a slight risk of showing up on tests.
Before buying Full Spectrum CBD Oil you should check the quality and manufacturing standards of the company you are buying from. Because the cannabis market is not currently regulated it’s possible to get a company selling a CBD Oil with a high THC percentage and advertising it as a hemp-based CBD Oil.
To guarantee the quantity of THC and the quality of our products, we offer third-party lab tests with every single one of our products!
Broad Spectrum CBD Oil
Broad Spectrum CBD products go through an additional stage of refinement to remove the THC from the product. This means you get a 0% THC product but the rest of the cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes are left in the oil you consume.
For those who want to get the best of the entourage effect without risking any exposure to THC, even in the smallest quantities, these products are for you.
What About CBD Isolate?
If you are still concerned about your risks of failing a drug test another option for you is CBD Isolate. This is a product that has been refined to only contain CBD without any of the other chemical compounds normally found in hemp.
Isolates mostly come in a fine, white powder that resembles sugar. It’s great for mixing into food or drink and is often 99% or more pure CBD. A good isolate product takes all the worry out of testing positive for THC but does lose the benefits you receive from the rest of the hemp plant’s compounds.
Wrap-Up on CBD Oil and Drug Tests
CBD won’t show up on a drug test, and even full-spectrum products that contain tiny amounts of THC should not cause you to fail unless you are taking huge amounts of CBD oil. That being said, both broad-spectrum (0% THC) and Isolate products remove this risk.
Hopefully, this article has cleared up any questions you may have about the issue of drug tests and CBD Oil. Do your research before buying from any CBD company!
