Does CBD Show Up On A Drug Test?

The most frequent question we get at Dr.Ganja bar none is, ‘will cannabidiol (CBD) make me test positive on a drug screen?’

The straight-up answer to this is no, but that is only if you’re taking CBD alone; as in, a CBD isolate, or a tincture that is not made from a full spectrum extract and clarifies it has no THC or THCA.

I find that most people that are worried about testing positive on drug tests are those who are consuming CBD flower, or CBD products that have been tested and contain small amounts of THC. CBD flower has trace amounts of THC and THCA intrinsically as it grows and so it is inevitable that if you consume this type of product, you are accumulating THC in your system.

So now the question may be, ‘can my CBD product make me test positive, even if it has very small amounts of THC or THCA, like CBD flower, or full spectrum CBD oils?’ The answer is yes.

Even though most CBD flower strains contain tiny amounts of THC or THCA (THCA becomes THC when exposed to heat or UV light, such as when you light it up or vaporize it), that amount builds up in your system if you consume it too much or too frequently.

What Factors Influence Whether CBD Shows Up On A Drug Test?

The factors that influence whether or not you’ll pop positive are how much THC or THCA is in the product you’re consuming, how often you consume it, how much you consume, and your subjective physiology. In regards to physiology, everyone processes THC at different rates and this rate is affected by your own personal metabolism, how often you exercise, and how hydrated you are. After all, THC is fat soluble, meaning it is literally stored in your fat so the less fat you have, the less THC you are storing and vice versa.

If you’re about to be drug-tested in a day or two and you smoke say, a 16% CBD, 0.2% THC, 0.8% THCA strain of flower twice a day, everyday (maybe half a gram per day), and you’ve been doing this for months, don’t exercise, don’t stay well-hydrated, then you will likely test positive.

On the other hand, if you smoke a similar potency flower, but only once a day and not very much (like a quarter of a gram), exercise frequently, drink a lot of water, and stop a few days before testing, you probably won’t test positive.

The Safest Way To Be, Regarding Testing

The safest thing to do is to stop taking anything that contains THC or THCA a week or two before you know you’re about to be tested, buy some pee strips (on Amazon they’re pretty cheap) and test yourself close to the days leading up, to see if you will pop. 50 ng/ml is the cutoff threshold to test positive and is the level that most pee strips detect, although you can find very specific ones that will detect at the 20 ng/ml level if you wanted to be super safe.

That being said, even marijuana smokers who smoke daily are able to pee clean within a week or two with abstinence, with only the heaviest of consumers reaching negative levels in 3-4 weeks. If for an upcoming test you need to be sparkly clean and you consume CBD products, the THC amount is so small that if you stop a week before and exercise and hydrate, you should be golden.While this amount of time would be risky for a ganja smoker to test clean, for people who consume solely CBD products, the time frame should be plenty.

Take note though, that you should NOT exercise the day before you test. This is because if you still do have THC accumulated in your fat stores and you burn some fat the day before by exercising, the recently burned THC metabolites can make you test positive.

It should go without saying at this point, but do NOT expect to test negative if you consume CBD products that contain even trace amounts of THC or THCA the day before you take a drug test. Stop a few days before (a week to be safe) and spend 10 bucks on some strips to be certain.

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