Medical Marijuana ProCon.org

Medical Marijuana ProCon.org

Detection of Cannabis Use by Testing

Some medical cannabis users have encountered drug testing for employment, school, traffic incidents, legal requirements, etc. In some cases, having medical approval for marijuana is accepted, in others, it is not.
While some tests seek to determine if the "parent drug" is in the system (such as THC), others test for drug metabolites ¹, which are produced by the body's chemistry after a drug is ingested. This can present problems for some patients who test positive for THC metabolites, yet they may not have used marijuana for several weeks.
When medical use is not accepted by authorities, some patients may be vulnerable to arrest and sanctions depending upon the outcome of these drug tests. The following chart examines the four testing methods currently in use, and what that may mean to medical marijuana patients.

		Urine	Blood	Saliva	Hair ² ³
1.	Tests for parent drugs, or for drug metabolites? ¹	Metabolites	Both	Parent Drug	Metabolites
2.	Length of time marijuana can be detected by this type of test	Between a few days and several weeks	Usually a few hours after past use, sometimes 1-2 days	Usually a few hours after past use, sometimes 1-2 days	Approx. 90 days after past use
3.	Length of time needed after use before can be detected in test	2-8 hours	Immediately	Immediately	5-7 days
4.	Currently used in "driving under the influence" tests?	Yes	Yes	Not in U.S., used in some European countries.	No
5.	Currently used in employee or pre-employment tests?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
6.	Currently used in student testing?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
7.	Permitted as court evidence?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

¹ The term "parent drug" refers to the identifiable psychoactive compound of a controlled substance. For cannabis-based drugs, this is known as THC. Drug metabolites refer to those substances produced by the metabolism (body's chemistry) after a drug is ingested. Though the presence of metabolites in blood or urine is indicative that a certain drug may have been previously consumed, not all metabolites are psychoactive. Marijuana's metabolite, THC-COOH, is not considered psychoactive. Detection of this metabolite does not indicate or prove that the parent drug is still in they body.
The U.S. Department of Justice states that a positive drug test result for the presence of a drug metabolite "does not indicate... recency, frequency, or amount of use; or impairment." 12/92 U.S. DOJ, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The U.S. Department of Transportation states that while a positive test for drug metabolites is "solid proof of drug use within the last few days, it cannot be used by itself to prove behavioral impairment during a focal event."

² Hair testing detects "drug molecules permanently entrapped in the hair following ingestion."

³ "[S]tudies have found dark-haired people are more likely to test positive for drugs because they have higher levels of melanin, which allows drug compounds to bind more easily to their hair."
8/24/05 Associated Press

Thanks to Paul Armentano, Sr. Policy Analyst, NORML, and his report "You Are Going Directly to Jail", and to Psychemedics Corporation, for information compiled for this chart.

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¹	The term "parent drug" refers to the identifiable psychoactive compound of a controlled substance. For cannabis-based drugs, this is known as THC. Drug metabolites refer to those substances produced by the metabolism (body's chemistry) after a drug is ingested. Though the presence of metabolites in blood or urine is indicative that a certain drug may have been previously consumed, not all metabolites are psychoactive. Marijuana's metabolite, THC-COOH, is not considered psychoactive. Detection of this metabolite does not indicate or prove that the parent drug is still in they body. The U.S. Department of Justice states that a positive drug test result for the presence of a drug metabolite "does not indicate... recency, frequency, or amount of use; or impairment." 12/92 U.S. DOJ, Bureau of Justice Statistics. The U.S. Department of Transportation states that while a positive test for drug metabolites is "solid proof of drug use within the last few days, it cannot be used by itself to prove behavioral impairment during a focal event."
²	Hair testing detects "drug molecules permanently entrapped in the hair following ingestion."
³	"[S]tudies have found dark-haired people are more likely to test positive for drugs because they have higher levels of melanin, which allows drug compounds to bind more easily to their hair." 8/24/05 Associated Press