One of the most frequent question we get is will CBD show up on a drug test? It is a legitimate question, and we understand that there are many who are interested in CBD products, but are concerned about failing a drug test.

You may be worried that an employer may find out and it could potentially impact your job. Its possible that you are in a pain management clinic and you are concerned about failing a drug test. Don’t worry, you are not the first person that has asked this question or has this concern.

What Is CBD?

For us to answer whether CBD will show up on a drug test, we need to first answer what CBD is. The CBD products sold at a CBD store in the Baltimore area like CBD Supply Maryland are all hemp-based. Hemp is a cannabis plant, but it is different in several ways than its cousin marijuana. The major difference between hemp and marijuana is that hemp is high in CBD but extremely low in THC.

In the 2018 federal Farm Bill, the federal government legalized all hemp-based products that have less than 0.3% THC in them. This means that if you are using hemp-based CBD the product is both federally legal and legal in Maryland.

CBD, or cannabidiol as it is technically known, is one of over 100 cannabinoids found in the hemp plant. Unlike THC, which is another cannabinoid, it does not give you a high or euphoric feeling. It simply helps with pain, inflammation, and anxiety by interacting with the body’s endocannabinoid system.

What Is The Endocannabinoid System?

Ok so we know what CBD is but we need to know what the endocannabinoid system is just so we understand how it processes in your body to fully understand how it works. The endocannabinoid system was first discovered in the 1990s. It is a complex system of receptors located throughout the body that typically works to process our body’s own naturally occurring endocannabinoids, which are incredibly like cannabinoids found in the hemp plant.

The endocannabinoid system has receptors located throughout the body in areas such as the brain, skin, bones, digestive system, nervous system, and more. This is how CBD and other cannabinoids are processed in the body, and how they can help with pain, inflammation, and anxiety.

How Do CBD Drug Tests Work?

Now that we know what CBD is and how it works, we can look at what a drug test is to better understand if CBD will show up on a test. The verbiage from the experts is that “conventional urine drug testing for cannabis targets a common metabolite of THC called THC-COOH”, meaning that the test is looking for the cannabinoid THC.

As we said above THC is the cannabinoid typically associated with the marijuana plant that gives you the high feeling. It is important to note, though, that there is a trace amount of THC in the hemp plant. As the federal law states hemp has 0.3% THC or less.

Types Of CBD Products

It is now time for us to throw one more wrinkle into this question to better answer will CBD show up on a drug test. CBD products can come in three different forms: full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, and CBD isolate. Let’s look at these product types to understand what the labeling means.

Full-Spectrum

A full-spectrum CBD product will include CBD and all the other cannabinoids in the hemp plant. This means that in addition to CBD you will have other cannabinoids in the product such as CBG, CBN, THC, and more. The reason many prefer full-spectrum products is because of something called the entourage effect. The entourage effect is a theory that suggests that CBD works better when it is taken with all the parts of the hemp plant including a trace amount of THC.

Broad-Spectrum

The broad-spectrum products on the market are very similar to the full-spectrum products on the market. A broad-spectrum product includes all the parts and cannabinoids in a hemp plant, except THC. This type of product is often used by someone that wants to have the effects of all the cannabinoids in a hemp plant like CBD, CBG, CBC, CBN, and more without the THC.

CBD Isolate

A CBD isolate product is just CBD. This means that the product has had the THC and all the other cannabinoids in the product removed. If there is any concern about THC in the product you will often find people looking at CBD isolates.

Will CBD Show Up On A Drug Test?

Grace Kroner, Lead Researcher at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center in Salt Lake City conducted a study using the traditional urine test models with various cannabinoids and found that “CBD, or cannabidiol, did not react with either of two commercially available tests used to screen for marijuana use.” Kroner goes on to describe that trace cannabinoids like CBN can cause a false positive for THC in very rare cases. The good news is that these rare false positives occur only in uncommon THC tests and trace cannabinoids like CBN are not found in the isolate products.

Another notable change in drug testing since hemp was made federally legal is to change the THC thresholds that trigger a positive test. The new federal workplace drug testing cut-off values were established to avoid the possibility that trace amounts of THC or THC-COOH would trigger a positive test. In other words, passing a drug test doesn’t mean that there isn’t any THC or THC-COOH present in your system just not enough to trigger a positive test.

CBD Drug Test Takeaways

The takeaways from all of this is that you are unlikely to fail a drug test if you consume CBD. The drug testing mechanisms have become more sophisticated since hemp was legalized two years ago to not have trace amounts of THC cause you to fail a test.

However, if you are concerned about the possibility of failing a test and don’t want to take any chances there are other products that could work for you and reduce the risk even further of a failed drug test. If you were to use a broad-spectrum or CBD isolate product you would have virtually no chance of failing a drug test. This presents a good option for those that are worried based upon their job.

As always with any CBD product stores like CBD Supply Maryland can help guide you through this process. As one of the only stores with a medical cannabis doctor on our team we can help you make the best decisions about products that would work for you. If you have any questions, we are here to help.